ECtHR recognizes violation of Ingush activists’ rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found a violation of the right to freedom of assembly and awarded compensation to Ingush activists Ruslan Mutsolgov and Anzhela Matieva, who were fined by a Russian court for participating in a protest action against the change in the border with Chechnya. The compensation was awarded despite the refusal of the Russian authorities to comply with the decisions of the ECtHR.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 29, 2018, a court found Ruslan Mutsolgov, the leader of the Ingush branch of the “Yabloko” Party, guilty of violating the procedure for holding public events and fined him. The Ingush activist was punished for participating in the protest action held on September 26, 2018, when an agreement on the change in the borders was signed by Yunus-Bek Evkurov, then head of Ingushetia, and Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, and when alarmed residents of Ingushetia gathered in Magas.

Ruslan Mutsolgov expressed his hope that the Russian authorities would reconsider their policy towards the Council of Europe (CE) and international legal institutions.

Anzhela Matieva, an Ingush social activist, was also awarded 3500 euros in compensation for being illegally brought to court for participating in a rally on October 6, 2018. She was dismissed from the “Ingushneft” Company (a subsidiary of the “Rosneft” Company) after taking part in a protest action against the border agreement with Chechnya in December 2018. According to Anzhela Matieva’s version, she lost her job for political reasons.