Relatives declared innocence of people killed in Malgobek District of Ingushetia

Abdurakhman Kurskiev, Ilez Merzhoev and Ibragim Bekbuzarov, who were shot dead in the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, rendered no resistance and were armless, said their relatives-eyewitnesses of the incident. They turned to the police, the head of Ingushetia and human rights activists asking to investigate the killings. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Ingushetia said that the casualties were militants and resisted detention.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 19 in Malgobek, during the funeral of the district policeman, who was killed a day before, an explosion of an unknown explosive device was triggered. According to the police, it was done by a suicide bomber. Eight persons were killed, including the bomber; and 15 more were wounded. The head of Ingushetia accused Dokku Umarov of organizing the terror acts in the township of Sagopshi.

Early in the morning on August 28, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced in the city of Malgobek and a part of the Malgobek District. According to the MIA, in the course of a special operation, four alleged members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) were liquidated, and two others were detained. It was also reported that during the armed clash, a police officer received a breast wound and was hospitalized in serious condition.

The statement of Akhmed Kurskiev, a brother of Abdurakhman Kurskiev, who was killed in a special operation, which was posted by Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights organization "MASHR", in his blog that he runs on the "Caucasian Knot", his younger brother Abdurakhman, born in 1986, was taken aside, put at the wall; then, they started a search in his presence, not allowing anyone into the house.

"Then, we were taken to another street; while leaving I turned around and saw my younger brother standing naked with his hands up. Approximately an hour later, we heard gunshots," says Akhmed Kurskiev's statement.

Alikhan Merzhoev, an uncle of Ilez Merzhoev, another casualty of the special operation, has also filed applications to the head of Ingushetia, the General Public Prosecutor of the Republic, the Ombudsman and human rights activists of Ingushetia.

"Prior to take Ilez away, power agents thoroughly searched everybody. All what happened was watched by our neighbours, who stood not far from our house. A few minutes after they brought Ilez in, the people standing in the street people heard his cry: 'What are you doing, I'm after a surgery!' Then, Ilez's relatives who stood outside heard two deaf claps. Then, power agents called an ambulance. Later, a masked power agent came out of the house; he took a shovel, a black plastic bag and returned into the house," says the statement of Alikhan Merzhoev also posted in Magomed Mutsolgov's blog on the "Caucasian Knot".

Some time later an explosion took place, the statement says.

The statement of Israil Bekbuzarov, an uncle of Ibragim Bekbuzarov, who was also killed during a special operation, also posted in Mutsolgov's blog, reads: "One of the agents said that they want to make a repeated check; and they'd take Ibragim as a witness. They again put him to the wall and searched him. Some 5-6 minutes later we heard 9-10 single submachine gun shots fired inside our house."

After the search conducted by FSB agents, we discovered disappearance of the jewellery and 164,000 roubles," says the statement.

"I appeal to the people of the Republic of Ingushetia: don't succumb to provocations; don't listen to the relatives of liquidated and detained persons about their children's non-involvement in crimes. And I tell everyone more or less involved in these and other crimes: use the chance that we give you - come and repent. All parents should know where their children are, whom they contact, who their friends are, in order to be sure in the future that your child is not used by strangers for their own selfish and personal benefits, to the detriment of our nation," the head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov wrote in his blog on the "Livejournal" in his comment on the special operation in the Malgobek District.