The case of Magomed Khazbiev has been transferred to court

The case of an Ingush opposition leader, accused of inciting hostility towards the leadership of the republic, insulting a representative of the authorities and illegal possession of weapons, has been submitted to the court.

On June 1, 2018, it became known that a criminal case against opposition activist Magomed Khazbiev had been transferred to the Nazranovsky District Court of Ingushetia. This was announced by the lawyer of the international human rights group "Agora" Andrey Sabinin.

Khazbiev is accused of illegal possession of weapons (Article 222 of the Criminal Code), insulting a representative of the authorities (Part 1 of Article 319 of the Criminal Code) and inciting hostility towards the head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, "representatives of the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, government and power structures of the Republic of Ingushetia in general " (part 1 of article 282 of the Criminal Code). The accusation of incitement to hatred is based on an expert examination of a three-hour video interview of the opposition leader to the G1ALG1AYCHE website.

From our point of view, the persecution of Khazbiev under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code is unlawful. Unfortunately, the content of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, which includes a vague concept of "social group", gives law enforcement agencies the opportunity to prosecute citizens not only and not so much for inciting hatred towards vulnerable minorities, but for criticizing officials. Courts considering such cases do not always take into account the clarification of the Russian Supreme Court that the limits of permissible criticism of officials are wider than those of private individuals, and therefore such criticism should not by default be considered an act aimed at humiliating their dignity.

For more information about the expertise in the Khazbiev case, see here .

Sources

• In Ingushetia, the case of Magomed Khazbiev on inciting hostility towards the head of the republic, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was submitted to the court. Report of the international human rights group "Agora". 2018. June 1.