16 October 2018, 23:27
In Magas, protesters refuse to meet Ingush leader
The Ingush delegation left negotiations with Alexander Matovnikov in Pyatigorsk and did not make an appointment with the leader of Ingushetia, reported rights defender Magomed Mutsolgov. Officials recommended the protesters to challenge the border agreement at the court, the participants of the meeting reported.
Today, in Pyatigorsk, the delegation representing opponents of the agreement on the new border between Ingushetia with Chechnya have met presidential envoy Alexander Matovnikov. Ruslan Mutsolgov, the leader of the Ingush branch of the "Yabloko" Party, reported that the negotiations did not meet the expectations of the protesters. Yunus-Bek Evkurov scheduled a meeting of the commission with the participation of the protest leaders for October 17.
Starting from October 4, Magas hosts the protest action against the new administrative border with Chechnya. The protestors demand the referendum and the resignation of the republic's leader, who signed the border agreement with Chechnya.
The activists expressed their indignation about the officials' attitude towards the opinion of Ingush residents, reported Magomed Mutsolgov, a co-organizer of the rally in Magas and an author of a blog on the "Caucasian Knot".
According to Malsag Uzhakhov, another organizer of the protest action, after the discussion, representatives of the Kremlin announced that "nothing could be changed since the law on the administrative border between the two republics had come into force."
The activist believes that the Kremlin was deliberately delaying the time until the agreement entered into force, without planning to change anything.
Musa Masalgov, another co-organizer of the rally, has noted that the protest leaders had been recommended to lead people away from the square to prevent the possibility of repression.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 16, 2018 at 07:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.