Press Release, 15.04.2019

Photo: Magomed Mutsolgov and Ruslan Mutsolgov

The authorities of Ingushetia continue searches and arrests after the March rallies in Magas against the border agreement with Chechnya. Protest leaders Ahmed Barakhoyev, Barakh Chemurziyev and Musa Malgasov have already been arrested for two months. Today, the law enforcement accompanied by military equipment (!) came to the house of Magomed Mutsolgov, journalist and one of the most respected human rights defenders of the North Caucasus, to make a search there.

“Whatever they are accused of, it is obvious that the detentions and arrests were caused by political reasons. The escalation of the conflict to launched by the authorities of Ingushetia represents a big mistake,” Nikolai Rybakov, Yabloko’s Deputy Chairman, said.

“It is impossible to intimidate civic and human rights activists, but [the authorities] will only turn the Ingush society against them. In the Caucasus, this is doubly dangerous. It is necessary to immediately stop the pressure on the protesters and sit down at the negotiating table with them as soon as possible,” the Deputy Chairman of Yabloko stressed.

Nikolai Rybakov was the only federal politician who spoke at a rally in Magas on 26 March. Ruslan Mutsolgov, head of the Ingush Yabloko and brother of human rights activist Magomed Mutsolgov, was a co-organiser of that action.

Last Fall, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, head of Ingushetia, and Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Chechnya, signed an agreement on securing the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya. Ingushetia gave Chechnya a plot of the Sunzhensky district, which caused widespread dissatisfaction among the residents of Ingushetia.

The Yabloko party opposed then the adoption of backstage agreements to change the boundaries of the subjects of the Russian Federation. “Such provocative ways of “settling” territorial disputes lead to a split between nations and create a dangerous precedent. Transparency and broad public dialogue are guarantees of the non-repetition of bloody conflicts, ” Yabloko’s statement ran.