12 March 2019, 23:23
Court supports Vremenny residents in their lawsuits against officials
The Untsukul District Court of Dagestan recognized the fact of officials' inaction after a counterterrorist operation (CTO) in the residential settlement of Vremenny.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting from September 2014, residents of the Dagestani village of Vremenny have been seeking compensation from the authorities for their houses destroyed during the CTO.
On September 18, 2014, residents of Vremenny reported the blocking of their settlement by law enforcers, house-by-house raids, and, later, the shortage of foodstuffs and destruction of their yard structures by law enforcers. On October 8, 2014, almost all the residents left the blocked settlement. In December 2014, a special commission found 52 houses unfit for residence.
Today, the court has recognized the inaction of the administration of the Untsukul District, which failed to draw up lists of real estate objects for compensation, states a report of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", received by the "Caucasian Knot".
The district administration was to draw up primary documents about the damage and assess the damage after the CTO, but no such work was not carried out, explained Marina Agaltsova, a lawyer from the HRC "Memorial", who represented the interests of some of the victims.
The court has also approved five lawsuits to establish the fact of residence in the village at the time of the law enforcers' special operation. The lawsuits were filed by Shamil Magomedov, a lawyer from the HRC "Memorial". The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) excluded some residents of the Vremenny village from the list for compensation, since they were registered in other residential settlements. The court has recognized that in fact those people lived in the village of Vremenny and also lost their houses, explained Marina Agaltsova.
According to the lawyer, the today's judicial victory has opened opportunity for the residents of Vremenny to receive compensation after four years of the authorities' inaction.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 12, 2019 at 05:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
