Rights defenders doubt links of Ingush casualties with militants

The law enforcers' version about the armed resistance of those killed in Sunzha and about their involvement in the underground is causing doubts, since law enforcers have failed to provide any evidence of these allegations, human rights defenders assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that two persons were killed in a shootout on May 30 in Sunzha.

One of them, Magomed Ozdoev, had worked for the Russian FSB (Federal Security Bureau), his college classmate has stated. "He was a calm, religious guy, not aggressive, a good family man ... I have never seen him showing sympathy for radical groups," the man said.

Tamirlan Akiev, the head of the Ingush branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has recalled that it often turned out that the casualty had rendered no resistance. For example, in March 2014, during a special operation in Plievo, Muslim Kuriev was killed under such pretext; and in April 2012, "they tried to depict Zina Velkhieva, a peaceful resident, as a terrorist."

Official information is not credible, due to the dissemination of false information by law enforcers in past years, said Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the MASHR human rights centre. In his opinion, law enforcers declare the presence of gangs in Ingushetia in order to legitimize their presence in the region.