Video records confirm Ingush activists' innocence

The video footage of the protest action in Magas that was watched at the trial contains no proofs of the fact that leaders of Ingush protests called for illegal actions or participated in the riots themselves, the defence has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the case of seven Ingush protest leaders, accused of creating an extremist community, has been considered since November 24, 2020. On May 25, "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) servicemen stated that they did not know the defendants and refused to treat themselves as victims.

Djabrail Kuriev, an advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that at the latest court session on the case of Ingush activists, the video materials were discussed that were filmed during the unsanctioned rally in March 2019.

With the most careful watching, not a single fragment of the footage contained anything that could expose the defendants as provocateurs of youth to illegal actions, or as direct active participants in the conflict, Mr Kuriev has noted. "In all the footage filmed from different angles we saw either Akhmed Barakhoev or Malsag Uzhakhov, who persuaded guys to calm down, or Musa Malsagov, persuading especially angry young men to calm down, disperse and move away from law enforcers," the advocate said. There was not a single hint, not a single word that could confirm that the leaders were encouraging the crowd to use force against "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) servicemen, the advocate has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 9, 2021 at 03:18 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.