Case of law enforcers' refusal to disperse rally in Magas reaches the court

A court in Zheleznovodsk has begun hearing the case of 12 policemen accused of disobeying an order to disperse protesters in Magas in 2019.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 19, 2021, the Pyatigorsk City Court sentenced Magomed Dolgiev, 46, a former employee of the PPS (patrol-and-post service) battalion to 1.5 conditional years in prison after finding him guilty of disobeying an order during a rally in Magas. On February 24, 2022, the Stavropol Territorial Court cancelled the verdict to Dolgiev and returned the case for review following the state prosecutor's complaint, who found the verdict too lenient.

Magomed Dolgiev was one of the 15 servicemen of the Ingush PPS battalion, who refused to disperse the protesters. 13 of them were charged with disobeying the order. The Dolgiev's case was isolated into a separate proceeding; and the case of other 12 policemen was sent to the Zheleznovodsk City Court.

This court has begun considering the case of the 12 fired policemen, Magomed Mutsolgov, an Ingush human rights defender, has stated today. "The policemen are accused of failing to comply with the order to disperse the protesters. At a rally in Magas on March 27, 2019, after several unsuccessful attempts undertaken by fighters of the 'Rosgvardiya' (Russian National Guard), sent to Ingushetia from other regions, to force the protesters out of the square; the Ingush PPS servicemen stood in a line in front of the protesters and, together with the elders, convinced them to disperse. The bosses of the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) treated these actions as "discrediting the honour of the staff of interior bodies," Mr Mutsolgov wrote in his Instagram* page.

*On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow banned the Meta Company (which owns the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) from operating in Russia in connection with extremist activities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 13, 2022 at 09:26 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.