11:12, 7 December 2018

After CC's decision, Ingush CEC rejects initiative for border referendum

Ingush activists take part in protest rally against agreement on Chechen-Ingush border. Photo: Umar Yovloi for the Caucasian Knot

After the announcement of the verdict of the Russian Constitutional Court (CC), which declared the referendum on the border issue with Chechnya senseless, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Ingushetia has denied the initiators of the referendum.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 6, the Russian CC found the agreement on the Ingush-Chechen border, signed on October 26 by the heads of the republics, to be compliant with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The signing on September 26 by Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Evkurov of the agreement on fixing the Chechen-Ingush border triggered mass protests, the participants of which demanded to bring the border issue to a referendum. On October 30, the Ingush CC found the republic's law on the border with Chechnya to be unconstitutional. Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the head of the republic, sent a request for verification of the agreement to the Russia's CC.

On the same day, the Ingush CEC refused to register an initiative group of Ingush activists who claimed the need to hold a referendum on the border issue with Chechnya. The decision was made shortly after the announcement of the CC's decision, Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights organization "Mashr", who is also a blogger of the "Caucasian Knot", has reported.

The CEC's response posted by Mutsolgov provides references to formal violations that are "easily removable," in his opinion. He has expressed confidence that the CEC's refusal was caused by "the authorities' reluctance to hear the opinion of the population."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 6, 2018 at 11:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.