A Russian Region Neither at War Nor at Peace, but Facing a Crackdown -- New York Times
MAKHACHKALA, Russia — The race lasted only a few seconds and ended with the sound of a gunshot. Shamil Abdulayev, who was 24 years old at the time, had tried to run away from a group of men he knew were bent on abducting him. They wore ski masks and traveled in a white Lada sedan with tinted windows.
“My boy was wounded in the leg, and witnesses said they hit him on the head with a rifle butt, put handcuffs on him and threw him in the car,” Patimat Abdulkadyrova, his mother, said of the episode this summer. The car drove away, disappearing into the city traffic together with Mr. Abdulayev.
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are still four months away, but residents of this city, the capital of Dagestan, say they have been feeling the effects for months. The Russian authorities, determined not to have the festivities marred by a terrorist attack, are clamping down on the seething North Caucasus region — which lies uncomfortably close to the Olympic city — picking up people suspected of being militants and detaining them without charges, human rights activists say.
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My Comment: Expect this crackdown to escalate even further as the Olympics opening ceremonies at Sochi come closer with each passing day.
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