22:45, 23 February 2019

Head of Ingushetia was booed at memorial to repression victims (+video)

People near the Memorial for the memory of the victims of political repressions in Nazran, February 23, 2019. Photo by Umar Yovloy for the "Caucasian Knot"

At official events on the occasion of the Fatherland Defender's Day and the 75th anniversary of Ingushes' deportation, activists expressed their protest against combining the holiday and the mourning. The speech of Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the head of Ingushetia, was accompanied by whistles and shouts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Urus Kurskiev, an activist, who wanted, on the eve of the deportation anniversary, to organize a memory march, on February 22 was arrested for three days for his initiative.

The authorities have set up two banners at the memorial to victims of political repressions in Nazran – on the occasion of the Fatherland Defender's Day, and on the 75th anniversary of Ingushes' deportation. When Yunus-Bek Evkurov said about the February 23 holiday, he was booed by activists, who unfolded banners with inscriptions condemning the celebration of Defender's Day on the Ingushes' mourning day. One shouldn't "celebrate the wedding and mark the funeral on the same day," protesters have stated.

People began demanding to give the floor to old men, but the cries were muffled by music.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 23, 2019 at 10:59 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Umar Yovloy

Source: CK correspondent