A participant in a rally against changing the borders of Ingushetia was sentenced to one year and nine months.

The Zheleznovodsk City Court of the Stavropol Territory sentenced Gelani Khamkhoev, a protest participant in Magas, to one year and nine months in prison to be served in a penal colony. He was found guilty of using violence against a police officer (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code). Memorial writes about this.

According to the prosecution, Khamkhoev, “guided by political enmity” towards the then head of the republic Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and “under the influence of the authority of the rally organizers,” threw a fragment of a metal fence towards the National Guard, but did not hit anyone.

The judge agreed with the defense and admitted that Khamkhoev’s actions were not motivated by political hostility.

The activist has been held in custody since April 3, 2019, and this time was counted toward his sentence. Khamkhoev is due to be released in February 2019.

• In September 2018, the authorities of Ingushetia and Chechnya signed an agreement to change the border between the republics, after which protests began in Ingushetia.
• On March 26, 2019, about 10 thousand people came to a rally in Magas. About two thousand protesters remained in the square throughout the night. In the morning they began to disperse them, resulting in clashes between security forces and protesters.