MoJ appoints off-the-schedule inspection of Ingush NGO "Mashr"

The decision to start on May 23 an audit of the activities and finances of the "Mashr" was taken on the instructions of the authorities of Ingushetia, said Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights NGO.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 15, law enforcers conducted searches at Magomed Mutsolgov's home and the office of the "Mashr". According to Mr Mutsolgov, documents, phones and video cameras were seized during the searches. Ingush activists linked them with the protest actions that took place in the republic, in which Mutsolgov took part.

"The 'Mashr' human rights NGO received a notification from the Department for Ingushetia of the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) about holding an unscheduled inspection at the request of the republic's prosecutor's office," Magomed Mutsolgov wrote on May 19 in the blog he runs at the "Caucasian Knot". According to his story, during the searches on April 15, "nothing illegal was, of course, found."

He drew a parallel between the law enforcers' attention to the "Mashr" in the spring of 2019 and the autumn of 2018, when, after the rallies in Magas, special services began collecting information on various public and commercial organizations. "All [of these organizations] were united by the fact that activists <...> were among either their founders or <...> heads. This has not control over NGOs' activities, but political orders, which are entrusted to be executed by law enforcers and various inspecting bodies," Mr Mutsolgov wrote in his entry "Checks of NGOs or pre-planned repressions?"

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 22, 2019 at 04:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.