Activist's defence calls clashes in Magas provocation by law enforcers

An advocate of Adam Badiev claimed that law enforcers themselves were responsible for clashes with Ingush activists in March 2019. Adam Badiev admitted that he had hit a fighter of the National Guard of Russia with a stone, but stated that he had not done that on purpose.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Adam Badiev was detained on April 11, 2019, and later arrested.

On January 14, 10 relatives and friends of Adam Badiev, including his mother, attended a hearing of the Zheleznovodsk City Court.

According to the indictment read out by the public prosecutor, in the morning on March 27, 2019, Adam Badiev took part in an unsanctioned rally in Magas, being guided by "political hostility to the leader of the republic." Adam Badiev threw a stone to a leg of a National Guard fighter, but the victim got no bodily harm, the public prosecutor said.

"I admit that I threw [a stone]. But I don't admit that I did it purposefully," the defendant said in response.

According to advocate Magomed Gandaur-Egi, his client fell victim to a provocation by law enforcers. "During the clashes, the law enforcers also threw fragments of chairs at the protesters. It is clearly seen on the video. Such behaviour was ignored by investigators. We tried to pay attention of the court to that fact. However, we were not heard," the advocate told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"My client did not throw stones purposefully, with malicious intent. He picked stones from the floor and simply threw them aside. Perhaps he accidentally hit [a fighter of the National Guard of Russia], but he did not notice that," Magomed Gandaur-Egi explained the position of the defence.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 14, 2020 at 08:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.