On September 22, Dzhabrail Kuriyev made a motion in court to add to the materials of the Ingush case statements made by former head of Ingushetia Evkurov in an interview with a local TV channel.
«He says in this video, ‘We have a chronic disease of not trusting authority. With this statement the former head of Ingushetia is effectively stating that in a single subject of the Russian Federation in Ingushetia there is a crisis of power, an extreme low level of trust in the authorities, which is, in my view, a beggar-thy-neighbourly product of the activities of this official.
He mentions the organizers, here the meaning is about the organizers of the protest action. In particular he says: «I see a desire in some, not all, because I see sincere guys there that I used to know. Let’s not name them, so as not to think that I accuse someone or want to bribe someone. I see sincere guys who go there», — the lawyer quoted Evkurov.
In his opinion, Evkurov with these statements tried to mislead viewers, sowing doubt and mutual suspicion among residents, as well as between participants of the protest action.
«In addition, I draw the court’s attention that at the very beginning, in the first video and in the middle at the time 2:37, he mentions twice that he is not a lawyer. But we should have consulted with someone, with real lawyers», — concluded Kuriyev.
Recall that rallies against the border agreement between Ingushetia and Chechnya have been held in Magas since autumn 2018. In March 2019, they turned into clashes with security forces and detentions of activists. Most of those arrested in the aftermath of those events received real sentences on charges of violence against public officials. Eightprotest leadersare currently in the dock, including former Ingush Interior Minister Akhmed Pogorov, who is being tried separately.