Prosecutors Again Seek to Extend Detention of Ingush Leaders Accused of Extremism

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 4 – Lawyers for the seven Ingush activists accused of creating and being members of an extremist organization say that prosecutors are again seeking for an extension of their detentions even though most of those accused have been under arrest for months (fortanga.org/2020/03/sledovateli-zaprosili-prodlenie-srokov-rassledovaniya-po-ingushskomu-delu/)

            Prosecutors say they need the extra time because of the complexities of the cases, but the defense lawyers say that Russian law allows for such extensions only in extraordinary situations and that the government has not provided any evidence that the current cases quality. Nonetheless, the authorities are likely to be granted the extensions, prompting new appeals.

            Meanwhile, in a commentary on Portal Six, Akhmed Buzurtanov says that the changed attitude of the authorities in both Ingushetia and Chechnya to the commemoration of the 1944 deportation reflects changes in Moscow’s attitude toward what goes on in the republics and changes in the calculations of republic leaders as the country enters into a political transition.

            On the one hand, Moscow cares less about the specifics of what goes on in the republics than it did as long as the leaders keep things quiet. That explains by both Magas and Grozny deployed unprecedented force to ensure that the memorial day was quiet and to intimidate Ingush and Chechens from any protests.

            And on the other, Buzurtanov says, the republic leaders are uncertain of what their fates will be with a  new power configuration in the Russian capital and want to buy themselves some insurance by projecting themselves as national leaders Moscow could only change with costs to its control (6portal.ru/posts/миссия-невыполнима-почему-региональ/).

            These calculations, the commentator says, are so transparent that all Ingush and Chechens can see them and therefore are not having the consequences that the two republic heads are counting on. In fact, the actions of these two may prove counterproductive by increasing public cynicism about their actions.

            Also today, the fourth armed clash in the last 12 months in Ingushetia between the siloviki and those the authorities have identified as militants took place, with one such individual killed as has almost always been the case before he could defend himself or be questioned (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/346694/ and zamanho.com/?p=16603).