Paul
Goble
Staunton, August 25 – Circassians in
the North Caucasus homeland and the diaspora have appealed to Kazbek Kokov,
head of Kabardino-Balkaria, to intervene to block charges brought by federal authorities
against Martin Kochesokov and Ramazan Molov, arguing that he has “sufficient
authority” to interpose against “illegal actions” by federal structures.
This is a breakthrough development.
In the past, national groups have urged that charges they view as fabricated be
dropped or that those indicted be found innocent. But in this case, Circassians
are making a much more serious argument by suggesting that heads of republics
have the right and power to interpose against federal actions.
The open letter to Kokov is
available online at zapravakbr.com/index.php/30-uncategorised/1528-predstaviteli-cherkesskogo-soobshchestva-prosyat-kazbeka-kokova-vzyat-pod-lichnyj-kontrol-khod-sudebnogo-razbiratel-stva-po-delu-martina-kochesokova-i-ramazana-molova.
As students of federalism elsewhere
know, calls for such action are typically labelled “interposition,” an
assertion of the right of the components of a federation to defend themselves
against actions by the federal authorities they consider to be a threat to
their interests or otherwise unconstitutional.
In many cases, as in the United
States before the Civil War, that doctrine led to claims, which Washington
rejected, of the right of states to nullify any federal law or action the states
considered unconstitutional. Belief in both was a major legal justification for
the secession of the Confederacy. Rejection of them guided the Union
government.
For Circassians or indeed for anyone
else in the Russian Federation to assert such a right is a dramatic step, one
certain to provoke a sharp reaction by the Kremlin. But even if Moscow succeeds
in squelching this demand in this case, that it is being made at all speaks to
the growing anger and unity against Moscow of the Circassian national
movement.
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