Advocates report pressure on arrested Ingush activists

The defence of the Ingush activists, Akhmet Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov, Malsag Uzhakhov and Barakh Chemurziev has appealed against their removal from Ingushetia and the denial of access to the case materials. The activists are intimidated and blackmailed, said the advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that three leaders of protests in Ingushetia – Akhmet Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov and Barakh Chemurziev – were arrested within a criminal case about incitement to mass riots and violence against the authorities. Under the case of the attack on policemen, Malsag Uzhakhov, the head of the Ingush Council of Teips, and Ismail Nalgiev, the coordinator of the organization "Choice of Ingushetia", were also arrested. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" declared all the five to be political prisoners.

Activists' advocates have lodged two complaints against the investigators' actions.

"In our first complaint, we appeal against the place of investigation and the place of keeping the activists in custody, because we believe that they are illegally kept at the Nalchik and Vladikavkaz SIZOs (pre-trial prisons), while the site of the events under inquiry is Ingushetia. In the second complaint, we point out the illegal investigators' refusal to admit the activists' advocates to the case files," Vadim Klyuvgant, one of the advocates, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the advocates, the activists are "blackmailed, intimidated, and inclined to give false testimonies." This is asserted in the statement of Vadim Klyuvgant and Alexei Miroshnichenko for the media that is at the disposal of the "Caucasian Knot".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 17, 2019 at 08:17 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.