Ibragim Yaganov, one of the leaders of the Circassian public organization Khase, was hospitalized on December 5 after being
assaulted and severely beaten
at the entrance to the organization's office in Nalchik. Five days
earlier, Ruslan Keshev, leader of the public organization Adyghe Khase,
was the victim of an
identical assault. Both Yaganov and Keshev had been insulted and vilified during a televised "
Forum of Youth For Inter-Ethnic Harmony" that took place in Nalchik on November 28.
Yaganov said the people who
attacked him
on December 5 told him, "We are Muslims, not Circassians," and he
inferred from that statement that at least some members of the
Kabardino-Balkaria Republic police force have joined forces with Muslim
radicals against those Circassians perceived as being in opposition to
the republic's leadership. In recent weeks, Khase has campaigned
publicly for the repeal of legislation on redistricting that would
transfer thousands of hectares of mountain pastures to Balkar-populated villages.
Yaganov
expressed amazement at such a tactical alliance, given that it was
indiscriminate reprisals by police and devout but law-abiding young
Muslims that impelled the latter to launch multiple attacks against
police and security facilities in Nalchik in October 2005.
Yaganov
criticized KBR President Arsen Kanokov for failing to publicly condemn
the attack on Keshev. He further denied that Khase has had any contact
with the opposition to Kanokov, let alone that it has "been bought" by
the opposition and aspires to seize power through the violent overthrow
of the present republican leadership.
Khase for its part
released a statement accusing the republic's leadership of resorting to
violence rather than seeking to resolve differences through
"constructive dialogue."
Khase had planned to convene a meeting
in Nalchik on December 5 to demand the annulment of the controversial
draft law, but canceled it on December 4 under pressure from the
municipal authorities.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Another_Circassian_Activist_Assaulted_Beaten_In_Nalchik/1896507.html