Ingush Seven Case Continues to Fall Apart Attracting International Attention

Paul Goble

            Staunton, February 4 – The latest session of the Essentuki court hearing of charges against the Ingush Seven activists continued what has become a trend: prosecution witnesses either could not provide any evidence of their guilt or even asked that they not be listed as prosecution witnesses at all (fortanga.org/2021/02/svidetel-po-mitingovomu-delu-ne-smog-podtverdit-versiyu-ob-ekstremizme/ https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/359420/).

            But perhaps more important, the case, which has largely been ignored in Moscow and international capitals, is finally beginning to attract attention, with Radio France International’s Russian Service filing a major report on the trial and its meaning (rfi.fr/ru/россия/20210204-дело-семи-на-северном-кавказе-продолжается-суд-над-лидерами-ингушской-оппозиции).

            RFI journalist Sergey Dmitriyev spoke with Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryev and lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov who is defending several of the seven.  Ponomaryev says that “of course, all cases which take place in Moscow are important for the country because Russia is very centralized.”

            “But the case which is going on in Ingushetia is extraordinarily important for all Russia from the point of view of federalism and the policies which the Kremlin is conducting regarding regional elites, regional traditions and so on.” Unfortunately, the Moscow activist says, “the powers are conducting themselves in a predictable way.”

            Moscow made a fundamental error in allowing the leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia to sign a land deal in which Magas yield ten percent of its territory to Ramzan Kadyrov. It did so without consulting the Ingush people as required, and that failure sparked a wave of protests and led to the current trial, Ponomaryev says.

            He points out that tragically, Russia is “too big” and “there are no political structures of the opposition which could unite people in solidarity.” As a result, especially beyond the ring road, the powers that be feel free to do whatever they want in the near certainty that they will get away with doing so.

            Akhildov added that so far, Russian prosecutors have called approximately 25 witnesses to make their case against the Ingush Seven, “but so far not one of them has given testimony against our accused.” Unfortunately, in Russia, “if people are in jail,” then the courts will find them guilty and keep them behind bars.” But, he said, “we shall see what happens in this case.”

            At the end of last year, the RFI journalist recalls, Sergey Davidis of the Memorial organization said that the case against the Ingush Seven is “the largest politically motivated persecution in Russia today.”