Paul
Goble
Staunton, September 13 – The way in
which Russian officials are using the pandemic restrictions as a kind of Catch
22 against those who want to protest is on view today in the Ingush capital of
Magas. There, officials denied an application by those who wanted to
demonstrate in support of Malsag Uzhakhov, the head of the Union of Teips.
In doing so, the authorities said
that any gathering would have to wear masks in conformity with restrictions
imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus but that participants in such a
meeting who wore masks would be arrested for hiding their faces in a public
activity, an action that also violates the law (fortanga.org/2020/09/ne-soglasovali/).
The best the Ingush officials could
offer was to suggest that those who want to demonstrate give up on that until
the anti-coronavirus restrictions are lifted. At that time, they suggested,
officials would be willing to consider applications. What this may mean is that some pandemic
restrictions may be kept in place not to fight the virus but to fight the people.
The Ingush opposition has been
punctilious in seeking to follow the rules governing demonstrations. But it is
unclear what they will do now when confronted with a regime that tells them as
far as taking part in protests is concerned, you’re damned if you wear a mask
and you’re damned if you don’t.
At least some voices may be raised
against following the directives of the people in power given that the latter
seem committed not to following any constitutional rules but rather to creating
a situation in which the authorities always get what they want and the Ingush
people never do.
The focus of concern behind this
effort to organize a protest, Malsag Uzhakhov, remains in detention for taking
part in the March 2019 protests against the border deal with Chechnya that cost
Ingushetia ten percent of its territory. All of the hearings in this case have
occurred not in Ingushetia but in Russia’s Stavropol Kray.
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