Ingush Officials Far More Arbitrary and Cruel than Moscow Ones, Gozman Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 16 – In an appeal to all Russians concerned about political freedom and human rights, Leonid Gozman says that the Ingush opposition is fighting for the same goals as the opposition in the Russian capital but that the powers that be in that North Caucasus republic are far more “wild and harsh” than are those in Moscow.

            The liberal politician and commentator says that he doesn’t know why the powers that be in Ingushetia are acting as they are and particularly why they have singled out for particular mistreatment Zarifa Sautiyeva, who acted exactly in the opposite way than she is accused of doing (zamanho.com/?p=13940).

            “We have a very large and varied country,” Gozman continues. “We do not always understand what is happening in its various regions whose customs are alien to us or the behavior of those who voluntarily or, having given in to overriding force fall sometimes ‘under the hand of the Russian tsar.’”

            “But in Ingushetia now people are struggling for the very same things that they are in Moscow – for freedom and human dignity. It is a wonderful thing that today so many people are defending Kotov, Zhukov, and many other victims of the punitive system. But when taking part in actions of solidarity, do not forget about Zarifa.”

            “We all have blood of the same color [and] we can defeat this system only by acting together.”

            Meanwhile, some 20 armed siloviki in masks raided the home of the father of Khasan Katsiyev, an Ingush opposition figure who has been under arrest. The size of the strike force is not the only surprising thing about this raid: another is that the warrant authorizing it had the wrong address but was corrected at the scene (doshdu.com/v-ingushetii-u-otca-arestovannogo-aktivista-hasana-kacieva-proshel-obysk/).