Ingush sign interpreter Dugiev convicted conditionally within Magas rally case

Ramazan Dugiev, an Ingush sign language interpreter, has been sentenced to 1.5 years of conditional imprisonment for alleged using violence against law enforcers during 2019 protests in Magas. The court has found that he struck a law enforcer's helmet on the grounds of "political hostility," the "OVD-Info"* human rights project has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 16, the court arrested Dugiev for "causing grievous bodily harm" to law enforcers at a rally in Magas in 2019. On March 17, the court transferred him to house arrest at the request of the Ingush deaf and dumb centre, since Dugiev is one of the few sign language interpreters in the republic.

Ramazan has deaf and dumb parents; he is the only breadwinner in the family, Akram Dugiev, his brother, has explained.

According to investigators, on March 26, 2019, Dugiev took part in the sanctioned rally, but stayed in the square with other participants after it ended. The next day, Dugiev took part in a non-sanctioned action and "used violence, not dangerous to life and health, against a state official."

Let us remind you that Ramazan's relative, Ibragim Dugiev, was detained on April 9, 2019, in connection with the protests in Magas. After spending six months at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), he was placed under house arrest by the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), becoming the first participant in these protests to be released from custody. On February 25, 2020, the court sentenced him to one year and two months in colony.