"The head of Kolyma has taken it under control" sounds like an ambiguous headline, but in light of yesterday’s attack on Dima Taralov, an employee of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) and our campaign headquarters for the Magadan Regional Duma elections, that is exactly what it is.
Frankly, I would rather see the head of the Interior Ministry for the Magadan Region—or better yet, Minister Kolokoltsev—on video answering some simple questions:
Why were no measures taken after an official statement was made about threats against Alburov’s campaign headquarters?
Why did Interior Ministry officers in Magadan forcibly remove Alburov and the others from the car in which the attackers had been blocked?
Why, after it became clear that the license plates on the attackers’ car were fake, did the traffic police not detain the people inside by forcing them out of the vehicle?
Why did the traffic police stop a local journalist who was following the attackers’ car on laughable pretexts ("you’re drunk") after all of our people had been taken to the police station?
Sorry, but these facts can be interpreted only one way: Interior Ministry officers in Magadan were directly covering for the attackers and did everything possible to ensure their faces were not seen and that they themselves escaped without hindrance. Personally, I still believe the attack was organized by police operatives themselves.
We demand a transparent investigation into both the attack itself and the police’s strange behavior.
This incident, however, has not changed our plans in Magadan. Today, the candidates’ documents were submitted to the election commission, and signature collection will begin soon. If you want to help Alburov’s team and our anti-corruption election campaign, then click here.