Russia makes 80 arrests after antisemitic rioting at Dagestan airport

Russia has detained more than 80 people in connection with the antisemitic rioting on Sunday in which hundreds of young men stormed an international airport in Dagestan to stop Jews from disembarking from a flight from Tel Aviv. Five people have received jail sentences of six to 10 days for petty hooliganism, and federal investigators said they had opened a criminal case for mass rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of eight to 15 years in prison. It is not clear whether anyone has been charged in that case yet. The riots, which observers have compared to a tsarist-era pogrom, stood out for a lack of police response as the mob took control of the airfield and main terminal while riot police stood by. Clashes broke out later on Sunday evening, injuring dozens of people including two police officers. Police have now launched a delayed crackdown on the rioters, accompanied by fiery statements pinning blame on shadowy enemies from abroad. Video published on Tuesday showed riot police in helmets making an arrest in downtown Makhachkala, while a regional governor said the tempo of arrests would increase. “The arrests are accelerating … first they arrest 10 people, those people give some information, and then from that information we arrest more people,” said Sergei Melikov, the head of the Dagestan region, during a live radio show. The leader of neighbouring Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that anyone who joined an unsanctioned protest could be “shot in the head”.<br/>