Witness treats clashes in Magas as authorities' provocation

At the trial of Ingush activists, Musa Keligov, a public figure, spoke as a witness and called the clashes that occurred at the rally in Magas a result of the provocative actions stage by the republic's authorities, Djabrail Kuriev, one of the advocates, has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the case of seven Ingush protest leaders, accused of creating an extremist community, has been considered by a court in the Stavropol Territory since November 2020. The defendants are under arrest, which was extended until November 9.

On September 7, in the city of Yessentuki, another travel session of the Kislovodsk City Court was held on the case of seven Ingush activists. At the session, five defence witnesses, who took part in the events of autumn 2018-early 2019 in Ingushetia, were questioned.

One of the key witnesses was Musa Keligov, an influential public figure, a former deputy presidential envoy in the Southern Federal District (SFD), Djabrail Kuriev, one of the advocates, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"He testified in favour of our clients and said that the policy pursued at that time in the republic was exclusively provocative, and that Evkurov carried it out in order to cover up his affairs by turning the eyes of the federal authorities to rallies and so on. That is, Evkurov, in fact, provoked the society to such actions in order to save himself," Mr Kuriev has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 8, 2021 at 02:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.