Displaced residents of the Novolaksky district are facing a challenge to their land rights.

Families of displaced persons who received land in Novokuli for perpetual use more than 10 years ago are faced with the tenant's demand to demolish their houses. They appealed to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee. The lawyer pointed out that leasing land is illegal, and that displaced residents are forced to defend their rights to the plots in court.

As reported by "Kakazsky Uzel," residents of the Novolaksky District complained that officials are not addressing the problems of those who have been seeking housing rights in Novostroy for decades.

A request from Bagun Ramazanova, a resident of the village of Novokuli, was received in the Caucasian Knot chatbot. Residents of the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky District have appealed to the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, with a request to order an investigation and provide assistance in returning the land allocated in 1993 for the implementation of the state program for the resettlement of the Lak population of the Novolaksky District to a new place of residence, which, despite this, was leased. Some residents have already built houses on the allocated plots, but the new tenant is demanding their demolition, it says.

The displaced people who received land are forced to fight for the right to live on their plots.

The state act on the transfer of land to displaced Lak people was adopted at the republican level back in 1994, but the plots were allocated over many years, said Bagun Ramazanova.

People laid foundations, built some houses, and suddenly it turned out that the Forestry Department had leased these lands to strangers.

"In the 1990s and 2000s, there was a collective farm there, and the lands were distributed to people. And part of the land belonged to the forestry department, although there are no forested areas there. The land there was intended for recreation; there was a sanatorium. They're located in the most remote area. And then it was time for the displaced people to move in for individual housing construction. The district administration divided up the land, 60 people received their due shares, and signed all the required documents. People laid foundations, built some houses, and then suddenly it turned out that the Forestry Department had leased the land to strangers. Even though our documents stated it was for perpetual use. "The new tenant was planning to build either a livestock market or some kind of construction base," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Her son wanted to build a house on this plot, Ramazanova noted.

"We learned about the new tenant back in 2016, and my son had been allocated the plot two years earlier. We also wanted to build, but then, since this happened, the mood was already sour. People even had trailers set on fire on the plot; there were constant scandals," Ramazanova said.

She noted that they had written complaints to the President of the Russian Federation and the head of Dagestan, but they had received formal replies transferring the complaints to other authorities.

"The forestry committee responded stating that the displaced persons have the right to an indefinite lease and at the same time pointed to a 10-hectare contract with Abdullaev. They stated that they were ready "We will terminate this agreement if there is a court decision. But the court is not on our side yet," Ramazanova noted.

My children were still small when we started fighting for this share. And now I have grandchildren.

Another Novokuli resident, Kulsum Aigunova, reported that her family already has a new house on this plot.

"The land was allocated in 2014. They spent many years building the house. And they waited for many years. My children were still small when we started fighting for this share. And now I have grandchildren. My aunt and uncle passed away while we were waiting. And then in the spring, the prosecutor came and said that a tenant had appeared. But these same lands were intended for resettlers, or the resettlement had already been completed. "It's bad that they even did this resettlement to us," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Lawyer calls leasing of land allocated to resettlers illegal

In the lawsuit against Abdullaev, the interests of the resettlers are represented by attorney Jamilya Budaychieva.

"According to State Act No. 0-16, the Lenin collective farm in the village of Novokuli was granted 1,516.54 hectares of land within the boundaries of the Kumtorkalinsky District of the Republic of Dagestan in 1994 for the implementation of the state program for the resettlement of the Lak population of the Novolaksky District to a new place of residence. "The lands in question were transferred to the rural administration of the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky District for resettlement," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the lawyer, despite the fact that the lands in question were transferred for the implementation of the state program for the resettlement of the Lak population, the Forestry Committee of Dagestan, without repealing this state act, formed 10 hectares of this rural land plot.

"The Committee registered them in the cadastral register as forest fund lands, and in May 2016, the lease right was transferred to Arsen Abdullaev at auction. On June 6, 2023, he filed a lawsuit with the Kumtorkalinsky District Court of Dagestan against Magomed Arakayev, Kurban Aigunov, and the administration of the "Novokulinsky Village" municipal entity in the Novolaksky District for the removal of obstacles to the use of the 10-hectare land plot. He also demanded the demolition of the houses. On October 3, 2023, the Kumtorkalinsky District Court of Dagestan issued a default judgment upholding Arsen Abdullaev's claims in full. However, on October 18, 2023, Aigunov and Arakayev filed motions to overturn the default judgment and reinstate the procedural deadline missed for a valid reason with the Kumtorkalinsky District Court. Then, during a new trial of this civil case, the administration of the Novokulinsky Village municipality of the Novolaksky District of the Republic of Dagestan filed a counterclaim against Abdullaev and the Forestry Committee of the Republic of Dagestan: to invalidate (void) the land lease agreement," Budaychieva said.

In her opinion, leasing the plot to Abdullaev is unacceptable under current legislation.

"The village council's land plot, effectively encumbered by other people's rights, Novokulinsky shouldn't have been put up for auction and the lease rights shouldn't have been sold through auction. And for some reason, they also carried out the state registration without any complaints or comments, because the state registrar must conduct a legal review of the documents submitted for state registration before conducting state registration. Under these circumstances, we don't understand how the Forestry Committee of the Republic of Dagestan was able to form a 10-hectare land plot from these lands, which are part of the state deed. If the land plot boundary had been agreed upon with the adjacent land user during the formation process, that is, with the Novokuli village council in the Novolaksky district, it would have become known at least in 2016 that there were claims, that someone was laying claim to part of the plot. But no letters of claim or statements were received by the administration," Budaychieva explained.

Currently, the decision to satisfy Abdullaev's claim has not entered into legal force. entered into force, and the claim to invalidate his lease agreement was denied.

"The decision on Abdullaev's claim was appealed by the defendant. However, due to the fact that the court incorrectly determined the status of one of the defendants, we filed an appeal on behalf of the third defendant, who was not included in the case, requesting reinstatement of the missed procedural deadline for filing an appeal, as he learned of the matter late and was not included in the case. "In response to the petition, the case was removed from appellate consideration and sent to the trial court to resolve the issue of reinstating the missed procedural deadline," Budaychieva emphasized.

A Caucasian Knot correspondent was unable to contact representatives of the Forestry Committee and the plaintiff and defendant, Abdullaev.

The Aukhovsky District, where the Akkin Chechens lived in compact settlements, was liquidated in 1944 following Stalin's deportation of Chechens and Ingush. The Novolaksky District was established in the northwestern part of the district. This part was settled by Laks from the mountainous region of Dagestan. The southeastern part of the district was transferred to the neighboring Kazbekovsky District, along with the villages of Yurt-Aukh and Aktash-Aukh, and settled by Avars from the neighboring village. Thirteen years later, in 1957, the Akkin Chechens, like the other deported Vainakh peoples, were allowed to return to their historical homeland.

As a reminder, in February 2024, local activists announced that the restoration of the Aukhovsky District, planned for completion by 2025, had effectively been halted. In March, residents of the village of Gamiyakh in the Novolaksky District appealed to the head of Dagestan demanding a moratorium on land privatization in the area where the Aukhovsky District is to be restored.

On September 26, 2024, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Dagestan reported opening a criminal case against officials from the Novolaksky District for fraudulent land acquisition. District administration employees prepared false documents to obtain land plots in the village of Novolakskoye for 40 residents who were not displaced persons, the department reported on its Telegram channel. Land fraud in Dagestan's Novolaksky District is hindering the restoration of historical justice for the descendants of Chechens deported in 1944. Although the Investigative Committee stated that officials attempted to illegally transfer 40 plots of land into private hands, in reality there may be tens of times more such plots, according to Arbi Batyrsultanov, Chairman of the Aukh Public Council.