A participant in a rally in Ingushetia against new borders with Chechnya was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison

The Zheleznovodsk City Court of the Stavropol Territory sentenced Gelani Khamkhoev, a participant in the rally in Magas, to a year and nine months in a penal colony. This was reported by the Memorial human rights center.

He was found guilty of using violence against a government official (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code).

The investigation claimed that Khamkhoev, “guided by political enmity” towards the former head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and “under the influence of the authority of the organizers of the rally,” threw a fragment of a metal fence towards the National Guard soldiers, but did not hit anyone, Memorial reports. The Investigative Committee considered this a threat of violence.

The state prosecutor asked to sentence Khamkhoev to a year and five months in a general regime colony, insisting that he committed the crime for political reasons - this is an aggravating circumstance. The court excluded the wording about the political motivation of Khamkhoev’s actions.

The man partially admitted guilt. The activist said that he threw the object away from himself and was not aiming at anyone, Memorial clarifies.

Khamkhoev has been in custody since April 3, 2019. He will be released in February, since one day in a pre-trial detention center counts as two days in a colony.

As Khamkhoev’s lawyer Magomed Gandaur-Egi said , his client admitted that he threw a chair leg during the protest. “There is a classified victim of the Russian Guard in the case. Allegedly, my client threw a chair leg in his direction. The leg didn’t hit, but there was allegedly a threat of violence,” the lawyer explained.

Previously, the same court made decisions regarding other participants in the rally in Magas. Most of them admitted guilt and agreed to have the case examined in a special manner, that is, without examining the evidence.

Protests in Ingushetia resumed in March 2019. Local residents staged rallies over an agreement on a new border with Chechnya. Because of this agreement, Ingushetia lost part of its territories. The rally in Magas escalated into a clash with visiting security forces, who tried to disperse the protesters, but they responded by throwing chairs and stones at them. After this, dozens of protesters became involved in criminal cases.

In addition, some of those arrested were accused of organizing an extremist community and participating in it.