Matieva calls on Putin to stand up for Ingush activists

In her open letter, Angela Matieva, an Ingush activist and a political analyst, has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to interfere into the situation with the arrested protesters in Magas.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that last December the Zheleznovodsk City Court in the Stavropol Territory sentenced six participants of the Magas rally; this January – at least three more. The activists Musa Malsagov, Akhmed Barakhoev and Malsag Uzhakhov were accused of creating an extremist community; law enforcers had treated the NGO "Ingush National Unity Committee" as such an extremist community. The participation therein is imputed to Zarifa Sautieva and several other activists, said the lawyer.

Angela Matieva has posted her letter to Vladimir Putin, in which she asked him for a personal meeting. She has stated that she would like to talk with Putin about how "Ingush elders, a young girl and more than thirty Ingush [activists], all clever, highly educated persons, who love their country and advocate for its strengthening and stability, are held in custody under fabricated political charges, which have nothing to do with reality."

The appeal was sent to the electronic reception office of the presidential administration at night on February 3, Angela Matieva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 3, 2020 at 11:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.