Advocate for Ingush activist, Barakh Chemurziev, highlights gross contradictions in verdicts to protest leaders

The testimonies of some secret witnesses, which made the basis for the verdict against the Ingush oppositionists, contradict those of MPs and high-ranking law enforcers. The latter testified to the desire of the defendants to prevent violence at the rally, Magomed Abubakarov, the advocate for Barakh Chemurziev, has stated at the trial.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since January 13, 2023, a court in the Stavropol Territory has been considering complaints against the verdicts passed to seven leaders of the protest held in Magas. Their defence has repeatedly asked the court to examine the proofs in the case, but this was not done; and many points in the verdicts are doubtful, Magomed Abubakarov has noted.

On July 13, at the session held in Pyatigorsk, of the Stavropol Territorial Court, Magomed Abubakarov continued analyzing the contradictions in the verdicts passed to the leaders of Ingush protests. According to the advocate, so far he has found no proofs of the defendants' guilt.

While quoting the witnesses' testimonies, including those of former Ingush MPs, Abubakarov stressed that, according to them, on March 27, 2019, when violence occurred at the rally, unknown people acted as provocateurs. At that time, the defendants, as the most authoritative activists, tried to calm the crowd down and urged people to act exclusively within the bounds of the law. As an example, he cited a testimony of how his client Barakh Chemurziev, as well as Akhmed Barakhoev and Musa Malsagov made efforts to disperse people.

He has also noted that there are testimonies of some secret witnesses in the case; and they are full of contradictions. Thus, one of them stated that he hadn't known Zarifa Sautieva, but at the same time he allegedly heard her voice at the rally.