Rally in Ingushetia did not take place
Timur Aliyev
NAZRAN, Ingushetia – An opposition rally in Ingushetia planned for April 30 did not take place. No more than 50 demonstrators gathered on Nazran’s central square at the appointed hour of 11 am.
All the entrances to the square were covered by officers of the republic’s police, but passage for pedestrians was unobstructed. There were also many police officers on the square itself and in its immediate vicinity.
Even though the rally organizers stated that they did not intend to call for a change of government, but had gathered solely in order to discuss the problems that exist in the republic, the Interior Ministry representatives demanded that they cease their action, on the grounds that their application to hold a mass demonstration contained irregularities.
The rally’s principal organizer, Musa Ozdoyev, tried to persuade the police officers that as a deputy of Ingushetia’s National Assembly (parliament) he had a right to meet with the electors, but he had to go and give evidence at the city's police station (GOVD).
Tamerlan Akiyev, an official of the “Memorial” human rights organization, said that the low turn-out of demonstrators could be explained by the general passivity of Ingushetian society, and also by “fear of the authorities”. “Ingushetia is already swarming with rumours that kidnappings are taking place. In addition it was being said that there might be provocations at the demonstration, and that those who took part in it would be subjected to punitive measures,” he said.
It is possible that the fears of Ingushetia’s residents were justified, as one of the republic’s law enforcement agents filmed everything that happened.
At the same time Akiyev remarked that as human rights workers they had not observed any infringements of citizens’ rights. “The only questions concern Ozdoyev’s detention, but on the other hand he went voluntarily and no one took him away by force,” he said.
Translated by David McDuff. (MD/A,T)
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