Dagestani villagers complain to authorities about land seizure

Thirty years ago, residents of the village of Gimeidi in the Derbent District received land plots for the revival of the village; and after a while the land was unreasonably transferred to state ownership. This was stated by villagers in their video appeal to the head of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov. They asked him to help to return the land plots.

"We come from the village of Gimeidi – this is one of the most ancient settlements and part of the cultural heritage of Dagestan. In 1993, the state gave us the opportunity to return to our native village; we built houses and lived in peace until people appeared, who illegally appropriated our lands," says the appeal posted in the Instagram* public “tut.dagestan”.

According to villagers, their appeals to local authorities are fruitless.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that residents of Dagestan had repeatedly complained about frauds with land plots. In their opinion, officials are also involved in this illegal business. Thus, on April 22, 2023, residents of the village of Kurush in the Dokuzparinsky District recorded a video appeal to Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the head of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, with a complaint that the local authorities had unreasonably transferred the land on which they pastured their cattle to the national park.

*On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.