In Ingushetia, ladies-participants in dispersed picket in Politkovskaya's memory were fined

Three women, ordinary participants of the action in Nazran (Ingushetia), held in memory of Anna Politkovskaya, and collaborators of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial," namely, Fatima Yandieva, Zoya Muradova and Zarema Mukusheva, were awarded yesterday for "breaching the established order of holding a picket" with a 500-rouble fine each. Ruslan Maisigov, local journalist, detained yesterday during the action some time later than 4 p.m., was released almost immediately after detainment. It is not clearly known so far, whether the other two detainees were convicted, but most probably, they were released from the militia station without a trial.

On October 16, in the course of dispersing the picket convoked in memory of Anna Politkovskaya in the city of Nazran, eight persons were detained. The last of them to be released - Magomed Mutsolgov, chairman of the Association "Mashr" of relatives of missing persons, and Albert Khantygov, a member of the HRC "Memorial," were set free today about 1 a.m. According to Shakhman Akbulatov, head of the HRC "Memorial" representative office in North Caucasus, the advocate was admitted to the arrested picketers only several hours after detainment.

Ekaterina Sakiryanskaya, a member of the "Memorial" Nazran office, who suffered an open nose fracture and brain concussion as a result of yesterday's picket dispersion, is now taking her medical care at the Republic's Clinical Hospital of Ingushetia.

It is notable that according to Beslan Khamkhoev, Interior Minister of Ingushetia, there was no dispersal at all, and there was no meeting as itself, but there was just an attempt to organize it, and a conflict burst out among the participants themselves, which then grew into a fight. Allegedly, militiamen were just pacifying the fighters.

"I've never happened to hear a lie more impudent and cynical. But we'll strive for the truth and punishment of those guilty," one of the employees of the HRC "Memorial" office in Nazran stated, in his turn.

A correspondent of the Ingushetia.Ru managed to clear out that a group of young men who started a fight and assisted militia in dispersing the picket had been recruited in advance and trained for the purpose by Magomed Tsechoev, head of the Nazran Administration (better know in Ingushetia under the nickname of "Gerassim").