(CJES/IFEX) – Magomedzarid Varisov, a well-known political analyst and journalist, was murdered on the evening of 28 June 2005. Varisov was the director of the Republican Center of Strategic Initiatives and Political Technologies. The incident occurred at 9:15 p.m. (local time) on Mayakovskiy street in Makhachkala, Dagestan, as Varisov and his wife were returning home. […]
(CJES/IFEX) – Magomedzarid Varisov, a well-known political analyst and journalist, was murdered on the evening of 28 June 2005. Varisov was the director of the Republican Center of Strategic Initiatives and Political Technologies.
The incident occurred at 9:15 p.m. (local time) on Mayakovskiy street in Makhachkala, Dagestan, as Varisov and his wife were returning home. Unknown individuals allegedly opened fire from both sides of the vehicle in which they were traveling. Varisov sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. His driver was wounded and taken to hospital. The journalist’s wife was not hurt. A police search for a black Lada car, in which the assailants reportedly left the crime scene, has thus far been unsuccessful. Police investigators believe that the murder is linked to Varisov’s professional activities.
A CJES analyst in Dagestan reported that Rumina Elmurzaeva, editor of “Novoye Delo” newspaper, also believes Varisov’s murder was linked to his work. “For a year, Mr. Varisov has been writing the column ‘Political analysis’ in ‘Novoye Delo’. In his articles he sharply criticised the opposition. The latter is trying, with whatever means possible, to swing the situation in the republic out of balance in order to rise to power. Periodically Mr. Varisov was under surveillance by unknown individuals. Last year he even told me once that he was being followed by strangers. The [newspaper’s] editorial office repeatedly received phone call threats. The meaning of the threats was boiling down to the following: ‘Shut Varisov’s mouth’,” Elmurzaeva reportedly said.
According to the CJES analyst in Dagestan, the journalist’s last article may have prompted his murder. In the article, Varisov focused on events in Chechnya, specifically in the village of Borozdinovskaya, in the Shelkovskiy region, where about 1,000 people (mainly natives of Dagestan) illegally crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border after a special task force operation had been carried out in Chechnya. The article provided an analysis of the situation. The journalist wrote unfavourably of the opposition, saying that they reportedly tried to take advantage of this refugee situation to instigate national hatred.
