18:40, 15 January 2023

Court holds session on "Ingush case" behind closed doors

The court has explained its decision not to allow journalists to attend the consideration of the appeal lodged by the activists convicted within the case of the rally in Magas by the absence of vacant seats in the courtroom.

On January 13, a court in the Stavropol Territory began considering the appeal complaint against the verdict passed within the case of the leaders of the Ingush opposition. The court session was attended by convicts' relatives and elders from Ingushetia.

Seven leaders of Ingush protests have been accused of creating an extremist community. On December 15, 2021, the court sentenced Akhmed Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov and Malsag Uzhakhov to nine years in prison each; Ismail Nalgiev, Bagaudin Khautiev and Barakh Chemurziev to eight years, and Zarifa Sautieva to 7.5 years of imprisonment. However, the defence and the defendants themselves insisted that at the rally in Magas on the contrary they urged the participants of the action to refrain from riots. The Ingush activists were deliberately sentenced to long prison terms for peaceful protests, journalists and political analysts have pointed out.

Let us remind you that on March 26, 2019, a large-scale rally was held in Magas against the border agreement with Chechnya. The rally was duly sanctioned until the evening, but the protesters stayed overnight, and in the morning law enforcers tried to disperse them. The defence of the protest leaders insists that, contrary to investigators' version, the convicts urged the protesters to refrain from disorders and riots.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 13, 2022 at 12:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot