Ingush Seven Case ‘Largest Act of Political Persecution’ in Russia Today, Moscow Rights Activists Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 29 – At a meeting in the office of the Moscow Helsinki Group yesterday, prominent Russian human rights activists and lawyers for the Ingush Seven denounced their trial as “absurd” and the height of illegality both because no crimes were committed and because the legal system has ignored its own rules.

            Sergey Davidis, head of the political prisoner program at Memorial, pointed out that this case was “the very largest politically motivated persecution connected with a single specific event” (fortanga.org/2020/12/apogej-absurda-advokaty-i-pravozashhitniki-o-dele-uchastnikov-ingushskogo-protesta/, fortanga.org/2020/12/pravozashhitniki-nazvali-ingushskoe-delo-samym-krupnym-politicheskim-presledovaniem-v-rossii/  and kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/358101/).

            “Neither the Bolotnoye nor the Moscow cases were as large,” the human rights activist said. As a result, “this is the very largest attack on freedom of assembly, organizations and even the sovereignty of the people.” Other speakers, including Lev Ponomaryev, agreed and provided additional details.

            Davidis explained that Memorial had not declared all of the 48 Ingush accused in this case political prisoners not because they do not show signs of being so but only because his organization lacked the resources to be able to go into the details of each particular case of official abuse against them.

            The next session of the Ingush Seven trial is scheduled to take place in Kislovodsk on January 12, after the New Year’s holiday concludes, Meanwhile, all seven remain in detention.

            Meanwhile, there were three other important developments today on the legal front in Ingushetia. First, the Ingush Supreme Court left unchanged the conviction of Rashid Maysigov, the Fortanga journalist on whom drugs were planted. His lawyers announced immediate plans to appeal to the Russian Supreme Court (fortanga.org/2020/12/prigovor-rashidu-majsigovu-ostavlen-v-sile/).

            Second, the widow of Magomed Doliyev who died as a result of torture filed a formal complaint about the early release of the interior ministry officer, Timur Khamkhoyev, was had been found guilty of abuse of his position in the Doliyev case (fortanga.org/2020/12/podana-zhaloba-na-dosrochnoe-osvobozhdenie-timura-hamhoeva/).

            And third, two Ingush teips demanded that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov provide evidence for his charges of terrorism in a recent case and release the bodies of those his forces killed in suppressing it (doshdu.com/ingushskie-tejpy-potrebovali-ot-kadyrova-dokazatelstva-viny-ubityh-v-groznom-bratev/ and kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/358158/).