Statement by the Yabloko Bureau, 31.01.2020

On 27 December, 2019, criminal cases were initiated against civil activists of the Republic of Ingushetia Malsag Uzhakhov, Akhmed Barakhoyev, Musa Malsagov, Barakh Chemurziyev, Bagaudin Hautiyev, Ismail Nalgiyev, Zarifa Sautiyeva and Akhmed Pogorov, under [the charges envisaged in] the article [of the Cirminal Code of the Russian Federation] on creating and participating in an extremist organisation, and January of this year they were already been charged.

Meanwhile, it is well known that all of the above mentioned citizens of the Republic of Ingushetia acted within the framework of the current legislation of the Russian Federation and were organisers of rallies and peaceful protests, defending their rights provided for by the Constitution.

Thus, we are all witnesses of how the authorities of the Republic of Ingushetia try to pass off civil activism and principled stance of people in the matter of defining the borders of their native land, requiring only compliance with the norms of the current legislation a extremism. The absurdity of these allegations is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the situation in the Republic of Ingushetia.

There is no doubt that all criminal cases initiated on the events [of a peaceful rally] of 27 March, 2019, in Magas are politically motivated and are not based on the rule of law.

We believe that the criminal prosecution of all these persons represents a punishment for their active civil stance, because mass-scale civil protests held in Ingushetia in 2018 and 2019 demonstrated their peaceful nature, the country’s population’s responsibility and ability to organise their community, also for ensuring law and order and complying with the rule of law in conducting mass actions.

The Yabloko party expresses solidarity with all the unlawfully prosecuted civic activists. We declare that we will closely monitor the development of events and will provide the necessary assistance to unlawfully persecuted citizens and their families.

We also demand from the Office of Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation and personally Igor Krasnov, Public Prosecutor General, to immediately verify the validity of the actions of officials fabricating criminal cases against civil activists of the Republic of Ingushetia.

We appeal to the President of Russia and the Human Rights Council to take control of this situation and put an end to the unjustified criminal prosecution of citizens of the Republic of Ingushetia for their political activity.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman