Timur Tsuruev to stand trial for taking part in January 2008 events in Nazran

The General Prosecutor's Office has sent to the court the case against Timur Tsuruev, a resident of Ingushetia, accused of involvement in the riots in Nazran in January 2008. He was also accused of threatening to use violence against state officials.

On January 26, 2008, oppositional protesters in Nazran voiced against corruption in power bodies of the republic and for resignation of Murat Zyazikov, the then president of the republic.

Timur Tsuruev is currently under home arrest, says the website of the General Prosecutor's Office.

According to investigators, Timur Tsuruev followed the calls, posted on the website "Ingushetiya.ru", and the leaflets distributed in the region. The authors of these appeals invited the population of the republic to take part in the unsanctioned oppositional rally.

After the protesters were squeezed away by law enforcers, Timur Tsuruev, according to the General Prosecutor's Office, threw a Molotov cocktail bottle with an ignited fuse at them.

According to Timur Tsuruev, he found himself at the rally in Nazran by accident. "I didn't take part in the oppositional movement; I was on the way to my friend and occasionally found myself in the place of the rally," he said, while acknowledging that he really threw a bottle in direction of the police cordon.