Analysts comment on calls to support Makhachkala rioters

The calls to release those accused of taking part in the riots organized at the Makhachkala Airport were initiated by their relatives or friends.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that by October 26, a total of 27 criminal cases on the riots in Makhachkala had been received by the courts of the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. Overall, 129 defendants figure in these cases.

Milrad Fatullaev, the editor-in-chief of the RIA "Derbent", believes that relatives or supporters of the defendants are behind the call spread in social networks to distribute the graffiti "Freedom for those at Airport".

"Almost 150 people are on trial there; and probably one of their relatives or friends decided to launch such a campaign," Mr Fatullaev has noted.

In his turn, Idris Yusupov*, a journalist of "Novoye Delo" outlet, has suggested that the initiative for the flash mob came from one of the defendants' relatives or friends. He has noted that many in Dagestan treat the sentences already handed down on this incident as unfair.

On August 23, the Armavir City Court sentenced five defendants in the riot case to the freedom deprivation for the terms ranging from six years and four months to nine years. The court handed down a harsh sentence without any proofs of the defendants' guilt, their advocates and relatives keep asserting.

A similar opinion was expressed by Shamil Khadulaev, the chairman of the Dagestani Public Oversight Commission (POC). "The first sentence shocked many people – 5-6 years of freedom deprivation. One defendant, as I think, was sentenced to nine years. Such verdicts are usually awarded for grave crimes. After all, no one perished there," he has stated.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.