Human rights defenders highlight historical significance of “Ingush case”

The authorities’ response to protests in Ingushetia, after which elders and activists were convicted of extremism, has become one of the first signs of an increase in repressive practices across the country, human rights defenders note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 5, a press conference was held in Moscow dedicated to the completion of the appeal proceedings in a case against Ingush activists. The probability that the convicts will be released on conditional early relief (CER) is quite small, advocates note.

In December 2021, an “unfair, cruel sentence” was pronounced in the “Ingush case”, noted Oleg Orlov, the co-chair of the “Memorial” Centre for Defence of Human Rights. The human rights defender has emphasized that all the convicts are very respected and authoritative people in Ingushetia.

“Two elders are Malsag Uzhakhov, the chair of the Ingush Council of Teips, and Akhmed Barakhoev, a member of this Council. Zarifa Sautieva is a former deputy director of the Republican Memorial Complex of Victims of Political Repressions. She is a popular blogger. Musa Malsagov, Ismail Nalgiev, Bagaudin Khautiev, and Barakh Chemurziev are leaders of republican non-political associations, the leaders of the Ingush civil society,” stated the human rights defender.

The Ingush activists have been accused of creating an extremist community and participating in it. These people ended up behind bars after the Ingush authorities signed a border agreement with Chechnya in 2018, Oleg Orlov emphasized. “Meanwhile, the authorities lied to the people and falsified the vote in parliament. The result was a mass protest,” noted the co-chair of the “Memorial” Centre for Defence of Human Rights.

He has added that there was not a single offense during the entire rally. “The protest movement has gained strength and its authority ... And the Kremlin decided to show Northern Caucasus and all of Russia that the authorities will not tolerate such situation,” Oleg Orlov stated.

The human rights defender has emphasized that the trial in the case against the leaders of the Ingush protest “should be considered as part of Russia’s big preparations for the transition from authoritarianism to totalitarianism.”