Prosecution asks real prison terms for Ingush policemen

The prosecutor's office has asked to sentence the 12 policemen, accused of refusing to disperse protesters in Magas in March 2019, to 2.5 years in prison each.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a court in Zheleznovodsk is considering the case of 12 policemen accused of disobeying the order to disperse protesters in Magas in 2019. The defendants have declared their innocence to the court. The commander of the battalion where the defendants had served, acting as a witness, has confirmed to the court that the defendants' actions at the rally helped to avoid the worst case scenario.

On August 18, at the session of the Zheleznovodsk City Court that considers the case of the Ingush policemen, the parties had a debate, the "Memorial" Centre to Defend Human Rights (CDHR) has reported.

The prosecutor's office has asked 2.5 years in a general regime colony for each of the 12 defendants, the CDHR rights defenders wrote in their Telegram channel "Polny PTs 2.0".

Let us remind you that on March 26, 2019, residents of Ingushetia, who were protesting against the border agreement with Chechnya and seeking the resignation of the then head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Evkurov, extended their protest action in a square in the city of Magas without the authorities' sanction. This led to clashes with law enforcers in the next morning. Subsequently, for refusing to disperse the protesters, the patrol-and-post police battalion was disbanded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 18, 2022 at 09:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.