Activist states pressure on initiators of referendum on border issue

Officials are collecting personal data on family members of activists who have set up an initiative group to hold a referendum in Ingushetia on the border agreement with Chechnya, said Magomed Mutsolgov, a human rights defender, in his appeal to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 16, documents were submitted to the Ingush Central Election Commission (CEC) for registration of an initiative group for holding a republic's referendum on the issue of the border with Chechnya.

The authorities of Ingushetia have organized, through local officials, a collection of personal data of family members of the activists aiming to put pressure on the initiative group and force activists to withdraw their application from the CEC, Magomed Mutsolgov, who is also the head of the human rights organization "Mashr", has stated.

He has noted that the application for registration of the initiative group was submitted only to the CEC, but officials at the level of districts and cities received copies thereof with personal data of the members of the initiative group.

"The dissemination of these data is contrary to the current legislation. Please check this fact and bring those responsible for the illegal collection of personal data of activists' family members to responsibility," Mr Mutsolgov has stated in his statement sent on December 3 to the head of the Investigative Department for Ingushetia of the ICRF.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 3, 2018 at 05:51 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.