Entirely Illegally, Belarus Authorities Work Hand in Glove with Moscow to Hold Ingush Activist

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 9 – In an entirely illegal fashion, the Belarusian police have held Ingush activist Ismail Nalgiyev who was transiting Minsk on his way to Prague, making no charges against him, denying him a lawyer, and then coming up with alleged administrative violations that will be the subject of a hearing tomorrow.

            On the back and forth in this case, see zamanho.com/?p=7487,  fortanga.org/2019/05/podrobnosti-zaderzhaniya-v-aeroportu-minska-ingushskogo-aktivista-ismaila-nalgieva/, caucasustimes.com/ru/v-minske-sostoitsja-sud-nad-ingushskim-aktivistom-nalgievym/, kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/335240/ and zamanho.com/?p=7476).

            Had Moscow requested that he be detained on the all-Russian warrant the Russian government has issued, Nalgiyev could in principle have been held subject to a deportation hearing.  But there is no indication that happened. Instead, it appears Minsk has anticipated such a request and decided to act in a more Orthodox manner than the patriarch. 

            Meanwhile, the Ingushetia ombudsman for human rights dismissed reports that activist Akhmed Barakhoyev was suffering because of the conditions of his detention. Those reports at least after Barakhoyev’s removal to Vladikavkaz, the ombudsman said, are simply not true (zamanho.com/?p=7502 and kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/335255/).