Defence equates transportation of Ingush protest leaders in prison trucks to torture

The seven arrested leaders of Ingush protests will be taken to the psychiatric hospital in Stavropol for examination. Malsag Uzhakhov, Akhmed Barakhoev and Zarifa Sautieva are badly tolerating long travels in prison trucks (paddy wagons) because of their health problems.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that three leaders of protests in Ingushetia – Akhmed Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov and Barakh Chemurziev – were arrested within the case of calls for riots and using violence against a state official. Investigators also treat Malsag Uzhakhov, the head of the Council of Teips of Ingushetia; Ismail Nalgiev, the coordinator of the NGO "Choice of Ingushetia"; Bagaudin Khautiev, the head of the Council of Youth Organizations of Ingushetia; and Zarifa Sautieva, an activist, as organizers of the riots. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has announced all of them as political prisoners.

According to advocates, three out of the seven arrested leaders – Akhmed Barakhoev, Malsag Uzhakhov and Zarifa Sautieva – have health problems. Uzhakhov can't tolerate trips in a paddy wagon, his advocate, Djabrail Kuriev, asserts.

Hours of travel in poorly adapted vehicles are tiring even for a healthy person; and older people who have health problems are threatened with serious complications, says Fatima Urusova, another advocate.

According to Djabrail Kuriev, such transportation conditions of the arrested activists are equal to torture. He has suggested that investigators want to morally break the activists with excruciating travels.

Kaloi Akhilgov, an advocate, has also equated the transportation of the accused to Stavropol to torture.