New Arrests in Ingushetia Intended to Bolster Extremism Case, Yevloyeva Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 6 – The two new arrests of Ingush activists yesterday are part of an effort by the prosecutors to build a case against the seven already under detention and charged with being part of an extremist organization, according to Izabella Yevloyeva, the editor of the independent Fortanga portal (kavkazr.com/a/30472013.html).

            She says that both the timing of the raids and the obvious confusion about whom to  arrest and whom to keep under arrest reflects confusion in the ranks of investigators and prosecutors and underlines the weakness of the case against those charged as being part of an extremist organization, a conclusion Timur Akiyev of Memorial shares.

            The most important Ingush development today for once is not about the judicial system.  It is a study showing that senior Ingush officials have given themselves large bonuses even as they have left workers unpaid and given higher bonuses to officials brought in from outside the republic than to locals in comparable positions.

            Ingush opposition figures have long suspected this pattern, but the Portal Six numbers and their presentation in chart form are devastating and will certainly cause even more ordinary citizens to have a negative view abut Magas and Moscow (6portal.ru/posts/за-какие-заслуги-ингушские-чиновники).