Makhachkala frontier. Dagestan as a testing ground for anti-corruption strategy
Dagestan is not an ordinary subject of the Russian Federation. This is the sensitive nerve of the entire system of power of our state, the gate of Russia to the South Caucasus and the Caspian region. How much power functions here (federal and regional), how much the population and the people of the republic feel safe, what political and socio-moral conditions are created, much depends on the whole country.
It is in Dagestan that many painful points of the state that directly threaten its national security are reflected: corruption and the dominance of organized criminal communities, social injustice and the radicalization of social (cultural) protest. The peculiarity of the region is that this protest is clothed in religious (Islamic) clothes, aggravated by hotbeds of interethnic, mainly land conflicts.
Therefore, the dismantling of the corruption system is a key idea for strengthening not only Dagestan, but also the national security of all of Russia on the eve of future tests, which are not far off.
System formation
Using the example of Said Amirov, we consider what role he played in the region for a part of the country's political and economic establishment, how the corruption system was linked to terror and the extremist underground, and what task the mayor of Makhachkala solved in the North Caucasus as one of the key figures here.
Amirov's “exploits” in 70 – 80-s of the last century, associated with frauds, during which warehouses with wool and documents “unexpectedly” burned down, were repeatedly written in the media. At that time, people and law enforcement agencies, who announced him to the All-Union search, knew this “hero” under the name of Jafarov. But an amazing thing, exposing publications soon ceased, and their author was elected as a deputy from one of the districts of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
It was at that time that the formation of Amirov as tenacious and illegible in the means of an underground millionaire took place. He knew the price of money and dreamed of power. But one thing - fraud with wool, and completely different - an attempt on human life. Back in 80, there were reasons to suspect him of a series of bloody crimes.
At the beginning of 90, a number of underground millionaires, among whom Amirov was, legalized as deputies and as high-ranking officials. First, by hook or by crook, he secured an appointment to the post of chairman of the Dagpotrebsoyuz, and then, in the fall of 1991, (after the Emergency Committee) became deputy chairman of the republic’s government.
On the one hand, there were easy times, there was no need to hide, but on the other - difficult ones, because they had to compete with “cool” Dagestan trophy hunters, new authorities, who literally made billions of dollars out of the air and in a matter of days. In addition, independent politicians and public figures appeared, such as the deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic, Gadis Hajiyev and the leader of the Democratic Dagestan deputy group, Magomed Suleimanov.
In 1990, Hajiyev published his article entitled “Mine fields of cooperation”, in which he revealed serious violations in Dagpotrebsoyuz. Soon an attempt was made on him. The miraculously saved deputy claimed that Amirov personally threatened him. However, the case slackened. Suleymanov was also active in the investigation of frauds in the republican system of consumer cooperation, and rumor ascribes his killing of 1992 in February to this circumstance. The crime has not yet been disclosed.
In the following years, a number of reprisals were noted over the well-known economic leaders in the republic, who were rumored to have not been without the participation of Amirov. Until now, these cases have not been disclosed. More than a dozen attempts on his life are associated with this circumstance: if the law enforcement system is silent, then the custom of blood feud comes into the law.
In 1997, in the election of mayor of Makhachkala, Amirov skillfully used the international installations of Makhachkala residents and won. Since then, he is the irremovable town governor, and the overwhelming majority of the citizens themselves are very disappointed in him. What happened was predicted by one shrewd Dagestan official when Amirov occupied the mayor’s seat: “Imagine a web and a huge spider that let the tentacles into all holes and suck all the juices - this will be our city”.
Roof, crime and civil society
The secret of the real or imaginary power of the mayor of Makhachkala is explained not by the weakness of civil society in Dagestan, but by the patronage of a part of the elite at the level of the federal center. For her, the mayor was one of the key figures in the region, and not only in the republic.
It was thanks to Amirov that the daughters of the federal parties, Demvybora, were created in Dagestan when he became the mayor of Makhachkala and the Union of Right Forces when he became the deputy prime minister in Dagestan. True, Amirov never put “eggs in one basket” - he was a key figure in the ruling “United Russia”, and at the same time placed his client in “Patriots of Russia”.
After one of the attempts in 1997, he was paralyzed. It took the operation that Amirov did in Israel. Since then, the mayor has annually traveled to this country for prevention and treatment, and, I suppose, not only for this. It is not clear who the Israeli establishment met and spoke about. But Dagestan is in the sphere of interests of Israel, whose positions are strong in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
At the beginning of 2000, the author of the article participated in the discussion of the situation in Dagestan and the possibilities of reforming in the republic with a group of analysts from the State Duma apparatus. During the event, I expressed the opinion that one of the most serious factors of the local political "cuisine" is the figure of the mayor of Makhachkala, behind which are quite powerful figures in Moscow, Israel and, possibly, the United States. Without solving this problem, there is no need to talk about any kind of successful reforms there. Not immediately, but after some time, participants in the event were forced to agree with my words and the fact that it is necessary to take this factor into account when planning work in this area.
Probably, the federal and not only the patrons covered it. And this explains the unsinkability of Amirov, who believed in his impunity. According to the preliminary investigation, the traces of the unfulfilled order to kill the current prime minister of Dagestan, Mukhtar Majidov, also lead to the “hero” of the essay.
But there were people who were distinguished by civil courage, real leaders who tried to correct the situation. Isalmagomed Nabiyev is the leader of the Independent Trade Union of Drivers and Entrepreneurs, Haji Makhachev is a former State Duma deputy, Haji Abashilov is a journalist and public figure (killed on 2009), Zaur Gaziyev is a journalist of the Free Republic (severely beaten, became an invalid in 2008- m), Khadzhimurad Kamalov is the most uncompromising fighter for the truth, the creator and editor-in-chief of Chernovik (killed in 2010).
In the power structures there were also people who challenged the all-powerful Mayor of Makhachkala, which is why they most likely suffered. In March, the deputy head of the tax police, FSB Lt. Col. Zalkipri Sheyhov, was killed in Makhachkala, 2011, and in June of the same year, Lt. Col. Magomed Gamzatov, senior operative officer of the Economic Department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. They unearthed multibillion-dollar embezzlement of taxes and fees during the inspection of enterprises controlled by Amirov.
Even in the immediate vicinity of the mayor there were people with civil courage. Some left on their own, others were killed, in particular, the Deputy Mayor of Makhachkala, Ahmed Aliyev (trying to prevent the destruction of the historical appearance of the city) and the head of the Land Committee in the city administration Magomed Murtazaliev (opposed the plans of the city hall to transfer land to private hands).
Amirov and the extremist underground
The case of the murder of Arsen Gadzhibekov, an investigator of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) in the Soviet district of Makhachkala, was the last straw that broke the patience of federal authorities. He participated in the disclosure of a number of serious crimes, including the terrorist attack in Kizlyar in 2010, when ten people died, and 270 suffered. It is not by chance that the investigation of the case of grave crimes in Dagestan, in the framework of which Amirov was arrested, was entrusted to Alexey Serdyukov, an investigator for particularly important cases of the TFR. He is considered a professional in the field of terrorism.
There were many guesses about the mayor’s connections with the underground, but there were not enough direct facts. Indirect even more than enough.
The entire first half of 2005, Makhachkala, was shaken by the explosions of the police patrols. A total of such attacks during this period was committed around 40. As a rule, they managed without large casualties, while the explosions themselves took place on the side of the streets late at night. But the noise throughout the country and abroad raised incredible. Dagestan was presented as a dangerous hotbed of terrorism, almost like the second Chechnya.
2 July 2005 of the year in Makhachkala blew up a car with special forces of the Interior Ministry troops. Then 10 died and more than 20 people were injured. A commission from Moscow arrived in Makhachkala. July 4 held a closed meeting of the collegium of the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs, the results of which decided to remove from office the head of the city’s internal affairs department Yusuf Abdullayev, his two deputies and the heads of all three police departments of the capital of Dagestan, known for their proximity to the mayor of Makhachkala.
New people in the police department quickly, on July 6, found the terrorist nest of Rasul Makasharipov, which turned out to be located in 350 meters from the mayor’s office and 150 meters from the building of the Dagestan State University. Than this street is famous, Dagestanis know firsthand: there every people and street of the courtyard are checked by people from the guard of the Makhachkala mayor. Nonetheless, the Makasharipov group calmly set up a mini-workshop for assembling bombs here and occasionally made daring forays. Only once, the gangsters violated the rules of the game, blowing up a car with special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and paid the price.
What is the result? When all the militia authorities of Makhachkala were dismissed, some invisible connections between the components of the infrastructure of terrorism broke off, and new people quickly figured out this nest.
In this regard, there are several serious questions. Why did the mayor of Makhachkala have to cover the Makasharipov group? Who benefits from such an order for permanent terror in Makhachkala? How did it happen that terrorists grew out of repentant and surrendered militants, such as Makasharipov? When they gave up, they intended to return to a peaceful life.
In short, the situation is as follows. Each such attack discredits Islam and Muslims, in general, Dagestan and the North Caucasus. In the world and Russia there is a powerful information noise about the so-called Islamic terrorists. This is beneficial to Israel, the West and certain circles in Russia. This is how Russians are set up against Muslims and the North Caucasus.
Russian public opinion is being prepared for a painless separation from Dagestan. The pro-Western and pro-Israeli forces, influential in Moscow, are working on this program. Putin and his team are opposed, but the power in the center is not consolidated. These influential forces in key regions of the country rely on loyal local bosses such as Amirov. There is enough compromising material on him, which obliges him to play the role imposed on him. Thus, the mayor of Makhachkala is included in the program of hidden support for the situation of constant tension and instability in the region, for which acts of terrorism and manipulated terrorist groups are good. In the West, this is called a strategy of controlled tension.
And hatred and vindictiveness, such as Makasharipov, were cultivated in detention cells after they voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. They thought that in prisons they would be treated humanly. But there the so-called party of war entered into its rights. Torture and humiliation of male dignity, she turned the young guys who believed the state into ready-made terrorists. Now, in the wild, everything in form was perceived by them as enemies, which must be destroyed. People in uniform, who tortured and humiliated former militants, are real criminals who have nursed terrorists with their own hands.
Each such explosion and terrorist attack in Dagestan removes any talk about corruption and abuse of power, embezzlement of budget funds and the shadow economy, numerous contract killings and unsolved crimes. What abuses, what thefts? War on the street, Wahhabis. What are you talking about? The authorities in Dagestan have resorted to such killer arguments before. The one who secretly supported them shouted about Wahhabis most of all.
In addition, there was another motive. The head of the republic cannot cope with terrorism and instability, and I, the mayor of Makhachkala, are a strong man, I will bring order, so that in Moscow you trust me, “authoritative and strong”.
And finally, part of the security forces was beneficial: awards, promotions, combat payouts and special rates for participating in anti-terrorist operations. All in the business. And ordinary people suffer. Such a terrible image of the republic is formed in the eyes of the Russians thanks to cynics and hypocrites. “Forest” are to blame here only last.
All this is confirmed by the revealed links between the grouping of the influential terrorist underground leader Ibragim Gadzhidadayev (who has succeeded in racketeering) and Amirov who was recently destroyed in Dagestan. In Makhachkala, only lazy people did not discuss this friendship. The circumstances of the assassination of the ex-minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan Adilgerey Magomedtagirov in May of 2010 are also absolutely clear now. However, they were known before.
Instead of a conclusion
The vicious system that has been created over the years is still alive and gives quite serious signals of its social activity. It has everything that is necessary for its functioning: economic wealth and politicians, scholars and journalists, paramilitary units from private security firms and killer groups, serious “roofs” in Moscow and Israel, serving as “infantry”, easily brought to rallies.
In the army textbooks, we were taught that if a breakthrough was made on some part of the front, then we should not delay. All forces must be thrown at him in order to develop success and not wait until the opposing side comes to their senses. This is the only way to suppress a strategic opponent, which is a corrupt system and its adherents. And this opponent is clever and cynical - the most powerful in the North Caucasus, and perhaps in the whole south of Russia. Corruption, like a cancer tumor, can again be regenerated and start new sprouts, calling into question Russia's geopolitical vector and its security.
And here the role of civil society is important, the best sons of which have been shot back in recent years. Therefore, we are now experiencing a serious restructuring of the entire system after the 25-year wait.
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