Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Russian Judicial System Putting Health of Ingush Political Prisoner Sautiyeva at Risk


Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 7 – Russian officials have moved Zarifa Sautiyeva to a court detention site in Stavropol kray because Moscow doesn’t want Ingush protesters still under arrest to be tried in a republic court.  As a result, the only Ingush woman detained for taking part in demonstrations has had her health put at serious risk, her lawyer, Bilan Dzugayev says.

            Dzyugaev says that Russian courts in Stavropol Kray are violating the Russian criminal code by moving her at a time when doing so puts Sautiyeva at risk of being infected by the coronavirus. Arrested on July 12, 2019, Sautiyeva, a diabetic, has lost weight and is not in good condition to start with (fortanga.org/2020/06/zarifa-sautieva-zhdyot-suda-v-ivs-essentukov/).

            A heroine to the Ingush people for her work both before and during the protests, Sautiyeva has attracted international attention and support since the Memorial Human Rights organization declared her a political prisoner. (For details about her case, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/05/zarifa-sautiyeva-ingush-political.html.)

            Meanwhile, Magomed Khastyrov, the acting mufti of Ingushetia, is seeking to balance between directives from Moscow Muslim leaders to reopen and the desires of Ingush Muslims for that as well and the need to keep restrictions in place to prevent a new explosion in the number of coronavirus cases (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/350527/).

            The Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of Russia called for reopening mosques for prayer as of June 1, but Khastyrov and other Muslim leaders in the North Caucasus rejected that date as too soon. The Ingush mufti now says that he will allow mosques to reopen on June 12, as long as protective masks are worn and disinfections are carried out regularly. 

            As of yesterday, there had been 2317 coronavirus cases registered, with 61 deaths (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/350509/).

No comments:

Post a Comment