Statement by the Yabloko party No 406, published on 8.04.2021

Adopted by the Yabloko Congress on 4 April 2021

Photo by master_18.mail.ru/depositphotos

In the fall of 2018, peaceful protests began in the Republic of Ingushetia, caused by the transfer of part of the territory of the Republic of Ingushetia under the control of the authorities of the Chechen Republic. The corresponding agreement was signed by the heads of the two constituent entities of the Russian Federation on 26 September, 2018 in violation of federal and regional laws, without taking into account the opinion of the residents of the Republic of Ingushetia and secretly from them.

On 26 March, 2019, a rally that had a permission from the authorities was held in Magas, at which several dozens of thousands of people gathered. The reason for the rally was an attempt to change the republican law “On the referendum”, it was planned to exclude from it the list of grounds for mandatory holding of a referendum.

After the end of the rally, a little more than a hundred people remained at the parking lot of the local television and radio company, they did not put forward any slogans, did not speak, and they did not have any banners. As a result of a provocation and unjustified use of violence against the those who gathered [at the parking lot], several dozen security officials and residents of the republic received minor injuries. This fact was used by the authorities for unleashing massive reprisals against the residents of Ingushetia.

Hundreds of people have already become victims of these reprisals – not only leaders and participants in the public protest, but also ordinary residents of the republic, regardless of age. During this time, about 150 searches were carried out in the republic, more than 300 people were brought to administrative responsibility in the form of arrests, compulsory labour and fines, about 40 NGOs and commercial structures were persecuted and pressured in the form of various kinds of checks and searches, as a result of which they stopped their activities, dozens of people were fired. About 60 people were prosecuted, 48 of them were arrested. More than 30 people have already been convicted and, having served an unjust sentence, were released.

A trial is taking place over the leaders and participants of the public protest in Ingushetia has been taking place in Yessentuki these days. Along with the young people, the venerable elders Malsag Uzhakhov and Akhmed Barakhoyev, as well as the cultural figure Zarifa Sautiyeva, have been under arrest for about two years. In addition to them, representatives of civil society Musa Malsagov, Barakh Chemurziyev, Bagaudin Khautiyev and Ismail Nalgiyev, as well as the recently arrested Akhmed Pogorov, are decent, honored and respected people in Ingushetia, are also on trial. Their social, charitable and human rights activities were of great benefit to the republic and its residents. Contrary to common sense and the factual circumstances of the case, they were accused of organising the use of violence against the security forces, creating an extremist community and participating in it. There have been no grounds for this accusation, their arrest and isolation from society. All of them are characterised exclusively from the positive side and inspire confidence in us. And Bagaudin Khautiyev was nominated by the Yabloko Party Congress as a candidate for the State Duma of the seventh convocation. All of them were recognised by human rights activists as political prisoners, that is, their criminal prosecution was politically motivated. What has been done today against the residents of Ingushetia, and representatives of civil society, represents groundless repression, which should not have a place in the modern world.

The repressions unleashed in Ingushetia are unlawful, politically motivated, and, in fact, used by the authorities as methods of fight against their opponents and lead to an increase in the population’s distrust of both regional and federal authorities in general no only on the part of residents of  Ingushetia, but also residents of other regions of the country. We have to state that political and social activities, protection of human rights, protection of public interests have been presenting risks to the health and life of anyone opposing the official power, and the North Caucasus demonstrates to the whole country various negative methods of influencing them. And this is unacceptable. Such methods are already yielding negative results throughout the Russian Federation, the number of political prisoners has been growing and is already approaching four hundred.

Considering the above, we declare the inadmissibility of unjustified persecution of citizens who oppose the authorities, and express our support for political prisoners. We demand the release and cessation of criminal prosecution of participants in mass protests in Ingushetia.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman