Ingush activist, Zelimkhan Bapkhoev, convicted

A court in the Stavropol Territory has sentenced Zelimkhan Bapkhoev, a participant in clashes with law enforcers in Magas, to one and a half years in a settlement colony. He will be back at large on March 2, his advocate has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Zelimkhan Bapkhoev is under arrest under the case of March protests in Magas. This January, the activist partially pled guilty in court, claiming that he attacked two "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) fighters at the Magas rally in order to protect elderly protesters from law enforcers.

On February 18, a session of the Zheleznovodsk City Court was attended by Olga Begretova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", and about 20 relatives and friends of the defendant.

Zelimkhan Bapkhoev pronounced his last word. "There were provocations; I wanted to protect elderly people; I didn't want to inflict [harm] on anyone intentionally," Ms Begretova has quoted Mr Bapkhoev as saying.

The court sentenced Zelimkhan Bapkhoev to 1.5 years of freedom deprivation in a settlement colony.

He will be back at large already on March 2, said Magomet Gandaur-Egi, his advocate. "I am going to appeal against [the verdict]. I believe that in the verdict, the court failed to assess the provocations committed by the republic's government and 'Rosgvardia'," the advocate told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2020 at 08:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.