11:16, 14 March 2021

Defence of Ingush activist Sautieva complains about law enforcers' pressure

Law enforcers are seeking to return Zarifa Sautieva to SIZO (pre-trial prison) by exerting pressure on the owner of the apartment where the she is kept under house arrest, her advocate, Magomed Bekov, has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Sautieva was detained in July 2019 and held in custody for 21 months.

On March 26, 2019, residents of Ingushetia extended, without authorities' permit, their protest rally in Magas. During the dispersal of the rally, protesters clashed with law enforcers. Since April of the same year, mass arrests of oppositionists were conducted in the republic. The case of Sautieva and six other leaders of protests in Ingushetia accused of creating an extremist community has been considered since November 24, 2020. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* has recognized Sautieva to be a political prisoner – she became the first Ingush woman arrested for political reasons.

The woman-owner of the apartment rented for the transfer of Sautieva under house arrest complained about a call from an unknown man who introduced himself as a major and demanded to open the door to the entrance.

Magomed Bekov, an advocate, has noted on the Facebook that the address where Sautieva now lives was indicated in the case materials, and suggested that this address was "leaked" to law enforcers. He turned to the prosecutor's office asking "to protect the owner of the apartment from illegal actions of unknown security bodies."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 13, 2021 at 05:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.