23:55, 27 January 2021

Trial against Ingush activists takes place amid a picket in their support

A prosecution witness says he fully shares the point of view on the events in the republic voiced by the Ingush activists accused of creating an extremist community. Caring fellow countrymen come to every court hearing, but they are not allowed into the courtroom. One of the Ingush activists' supporters holds solo pickets.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the Stavropol Territory, a court has been considering the case against seven leaders of the protest in Ingushetia since November 24, 2020. Prosecution witnesses confirmed that the defendants urged the people who gathered for the protest to act in accordance with the law. On January 19, advocates reported that the Ingush activists are being kept in difficult conditions at a SIZO (pre-trial prison).

The defendants are Akhmed Barakhoev, a member of the Ingush Council of Teips (family clans), Musa Malsagov, the co-chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, Ismail Nalgiev, a member of the NGO "Choice of Ingushetia", Zarifa Sautieva, the former deputy director of the Memorial complex to victims of repressions in Ingushetia, Malsag Uzhakhov, the chairman of the Ingush Council of Teips, Bagaudin Khautiev, the head of Ingush youth organizations, and Barakh Chemurziev, a member of the Presidium of the World Congress of the Ingush People. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" (recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent) declared all seven Ingush activists the political prisoners.

According to advocate Djabrail Kuriev, the prosecution witness described the defendants as very decent and honest people who cared for the fate of the people, "the pride of the nation."

The witness has also testified that during the rally, a group of people arrived in the republic and provoked the protesters, mainly young people, and if not for the people of mature age who stopped them in due time, the case could have come to serious clashes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 27, 2021 at 11:52 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.