Ingush Must Never Forget Those in Magas and Moscow who Betrayed Them Six Years Ago by Giving Ten Percent of Their Land to Chechnya, Bekov Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 6 – Exactly six years ago, the Russian Constitutional Court ruled that Ingushetia’s transfer of ten percent of its territory to Chechnya was legal and that, despite the Ingush constitution, no referendum was needed. Magomed Bekov, lead lawyer for the Ingush Seven, says the Ingush nation must never forget those who betrayed them by this action.
    In an open letter published by the independent Fortanga portal, the lawyer thus expands the list of those responsible for this violation of Ingush rights to include officials in Moscow (fortanga.org/2024/12/ingushi-dolzhny-pomnit-teh-kto-predal-interesy-naroda-pismo-advokata-bekova-k-godovshhine-priznaniya-zakonnym-soglasheniya-o-granicze-ingushetii-i-chechni/).
    And that suggests that even though the court cases involving those charged with demonstrating against the deal with Chechnya have ebbed, the case has not disappeared from the minds of the Ingush and that many of them likely share Bekov’s view that what happened was in many respects Moscow’s doing.
    If that is the case, then the consequences of the transfer of land from Ingushetia to Chechnya in 2018 are likely to grow and lead to an increasing radicalization of  the Ingush population – and forcing Moscow to use ever more repressive measures against the republic and its people.