Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 13 – Widespread hopes
that the replacement of Yunus-Bek Yevkurov by Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov as head of
Ingushetia would lead to a reduction or even an end to repression in that North
Caucasus republic were dashed over the last 24 hours by the arrest of two
prominent figures, a crusading journalist and a prominent woman activist.
Among those caught up in this sweep
was Rashid Maysigov, the head of the Fortanga telegram channel who was accused
of having large quantities of drugs in his possession, drugs that his
supporters say were planted by the authorities. His Internet outlet has been
one of the most important chroniclers of repressions in Ingushetia (kavkazr.com/a/30053770.html).
Also arrested was Zarifa Sautiyeva, an Ingush activist and employee of the
Memorial Complex of Victims of Repression in Manas, who was accused of using
force against the siloviki. This is the first time a woman has been detained
since the current unrest began (novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/07/13/153295-siloviki-zaderzhali-sotrudnitsu-ingushskogo-muzeya-repressiy-po-delu-o-primenenii-nasiliya-k-politseyskim).
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria
where many Ingush prisoners are being kept rejected an appeal by Malsa Uzhakhov,
the head of the Union of Teips of the Ingush People, who had sought a reduction
in the period of his detention on charges that he was behind the disorders and
attacks on siloviki (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/337807/).
Ingush
commentator Mustafa Dzhagiyev says that these actions suggest the new regime in
Ingushetia will behave as bad or worse than the old one and that more
confrontations between the powers that be there and the population are thus
likely even though many opposition leaders are behind bars (zamanho.com/?p=10535).
Angela Matiyeva, a representative of
the Ingush Committee of National Unity, says that these latest actions coming
on top of others will have a serious and negative impact on Russia’s image
abroad. If the authorities continue as they are, that image will only be further
blackened, she argues (zamanho.com/?p=10481).
But perhaps the most important
comment on these latest developments in Ingushetia came from Denis Sokolov, a
specialist on the Caucasus and head of the RAMCOR Research Center. He argues in
a commentary posted on Zamanho that the latest actions appear to be “ritual
detentions,” and that allows for “certain conclusions” (zamanho.com/?p=10543).
Four are
particularly important. First, he writes, “Moscow can recall the head of a
region and replace one representative with another but the center will not stop
the punitive machine because that is all that remains of the state, a machine
running on inertia with a corrupt and hierarchical police.”
Second,
this is all happening not only because of the Kremlin’s choice. “The punitive
machine in Russia has an ‘on’ button but not an ‘off’ one. The single exception
recently was Golunov but there were many special features of that case.”
Third, “the
police machine is hierarchical but is organized on the principle of feudal
vassalage. Each subdivision has its own territory on which it feeds. Ingush law
enforcement personnel cannot without special efforts act on the territory of
Moscow or even on the territory of neighboring republics. Zarifa was arrested
only when she turned up on her own region. But even the center does not intervene
in the affairs of the vassals.”
And
fourth, “this police-feudal structure is what the Russian state now is. Appeals
to the constitution and legality by protesters are viewed by it as an infringement
on its sovereignty. This is its constitution, its courts, and its laws. And the
state, or more accurately its beneficiaries act and will act with these
privatized institutes anyway they want.”
Two other
developments over the last day deserve mention: On the one hand, Kalimatov
accepted the resignation of Bagaudin Ozdoyev as first deputy prime minister (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/337766/).
And on the other, investigators say they have evidence of systematic beatings
of the Ingush girl now in Moscow hospital (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/337788/
and
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