Blogger, beaten up in Makhachkala, complains about policemen's offences

Alexander Sidorov, a blogger from the city of Tomsk, who held a picket in Makhachkala in defence of homosexual rights, and was beaten up afterwards, has left Dagestan. The blogger told the "Caucasian Knot" that policemen would not take his application about the attack, and insulted him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today, in Makhachkala, Alexander Sidorov, a blogger from Tomsk (aka SiberianGuyRu), held a solo picket. In his hands, he was holding a poster reading: "To hate gays is an unscientific fallacy." After the picket unidentified persons beat up Alexander Sidorov.

Alexander Sidorov has told today the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on December 1 he "walked around Makhachkala without any posters and a video camera."

"In the vicinity of 'Leningrad' Hotel I was approached by a masked man. There were several other men behind him. They showed me my photo with a poster and asked whether I was depicted in the photo; and immediately started beating me up. They did it for a long time and severely. Then, some passers-by and GIBDD (traffic police) inspectors, who were on duty nearby, ran up to the place of the incident. Apparently, it frightened off the attackers," said Alexander Sidorov.

According to the blogger, he "was taken to the police station, where he was kept for six hours." "The police would not take my applications; they just took some explanation. Incessant insults continued for all six hours. I had never seen it anywhere else before," said Alexander Sidorov.

The blogger has noted that he had already left the territory of the republic, and added that "in his presence his application about the attack was not registered."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.