On the morning of March 28 the head of the Dagestan regional branch of Memoral Human Rights Centre was viciously beaten by a group of attackers in Makhachkala, the regional capital.

According to ‘Memorial’ leader Oleg Orlov, Sirazhudin Datsiev was set upon as he left his house to go to work. He supposedly walked past a Lada with tinted windows, whereupon he heard the opening and shutting of car doors. Minutes later, Datsiev was attacked from behind. It is likely that a bat or brass knuckle was used in the assault.

Datsiev received several blows to the head as he lay on the ground, but remained conscious throughout the incident. He claims that the suspicious Lada promptly sped away with his assailants inside shortly after the unprovoked assault. He was taken to the Central District Hospital by ambulance as doctors tended to his significant head wounds. Fortunately, Datsiev’s injuries are not life-threatening.

The local branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that they had received notice of the assault. Law enforcement officials have opened an investigation into the incident. Oleg Orlov remains convinced that the attack was motivated by Datsiev’s line of work and affiliation with Memorial.

The Memorial Human Rights Centre has proved a headache for regional authorities in the Caucasus, and numerous attempts have been made previously to disrupt the organisation’s work in the region. Another incident in Makhachkala involved the torching of a car owned by a Memorial employee in January of this year. The car was parked by the residence of the organisation’s driver, and an empty gasoline container was found next to the burning vehicle.

Orlov also highlighted that Memorial has repeatedly received SMS messages threatening to burn down the organisation’s offices, while the human rights centre’s employees have been subject to threats of violence by text message in the past.

In January 2018, Oyub Titiev, head of Memorial’s Chechen branch, was stopped in his car and arrested for possession of marijuana. The branch director maintains his innocence, instead accusing the policemen of planting the substance while he was being questioned on the roadside. Chechen police have reportedly tried to pressure Titiev into confessing to the crime, but he has so far resisted provocations.