Ingush Muslim Establishment Calls for the Freeing of Sautiyeva

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 22 – The Council of Alims and Imams of Ingushetia, which includes almost all the senior members of the Islamic establishment in that republic, has collectively called on the government to immediately release Zarifa Sautiyeva, the curator activist and the first woman Magas has arrested in the course of the protests (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/338143/).

            That appeal will be taken by many Ingush as an indication that the leaders of their faith favor protests if the Ingush powers that be do not make some concession soon, possibly releasing Sautiyeva on her own recognizance or under house arrest. If they do not do so, there almost certainly will be new public protests this Friday and Saturday.

            Meanwhile, the father of Khasan Katsiyev, has appealed to Vladimir Putin to intervene and protect his son from siloviki who have threatened him with violence unless he admits his guilt to charges that the authorities invented to justify his detention (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/338132/).

            And two leaders of the protest movement, Barakh Chemurziyev and Bagaudin Khautiyev, have been transferred from Nalchik to a jail in Essentuki in Stavropol kray where they say through their lawyer that they will await trial on charges of things they did not do (fortanga.org/2019/07/barah-chemurziev-ingushskie-aktivisty-v-sizo-1-nalchika-zhdut-suda-za-prestuplenie-kotoroe-ne-sovershali/).

            Chemurziyev said that he was under no illusions that the law enforcement and judicial system in Russia was just and that he and his fellow detaineers are “ready for any turn of events,” including extremely negative ones.

            Transparently in the hope of keeping young Ingush from further radicalization, the mayor of Magas has put out a pamphlet on “Ingush Etiquette” explaining what young people should and should not do in public. When school starts, he said, it will be handed out to pupils (nazaccent.ru/content/30416-kodeks-povedeniya-dlya-molodyozhi-vypustili-v.html  and capost.media/news/society/mer-stolitsy-ingushetii-reshil-borotsya-s-vizglivym-khokhotom-molodezhi).