Monday, October 28, 2019

Memorial Says Official Handling of Ingush Political Prisoners Intended to Intimidate Them and Other Ingush as Well


Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 25 – The Memorial Human Rights Center has released a report detailing the legal status of 33 Ingush activists charged with various crimes for participation in the March 26-27 demonstrations in the republic (memohrc.org/ru/news_old/memorial-obnovil-spisok-privlechyonnyh-po-delu-o-mitinge-27-marta-zhiteley-ingushetii).

            Of them, 26 remain in detention in Nalchik, Vladikavkaz, Yessentuki, and Pyatigorsk, two are under house arrest, and two have been released on their own recognizance.  Information about them and potentially others is very limited, Memorial says, because relatives and lawyers of those involved “don’t want to make contact with rights activists and the media.”

            Therefore, the Center says, “we cannot exclude that the list now being published is complete.” Court records show that as of this week, charges against 20 of the Ingush political prisoners have been reduced, and in 15 cases, investigations have been completed and those detained now face trial. 

It is clear, Memorial says, that “the logic of these decisions is to reduce the level of public support for the accused in the course of the judicial processes, by shifting the place where the cases are to be held not only out of Ingushetia but also out of other republics of the North Caucasus.” 

            No trial dates have been set, and lawyers for those under arrest have launched appeals of the official decisions so far.

            Appended to its report is a listing of the state of play for all 29 Ingush detainees that Memorial has data about. 

No comments:

Post a Comment