On Tuesday, Akhmed Barakhoev and Musa Malsagov, convicted in the so-called ‘Ingush case’, were released from general-regime penal colonies. The case related to protests in Magas took place on 26–27 March 2019. Participants opposed the border agreement between Ingushetia and Chechnya.
Seventy-one-year-old Akhmed Barakhoev was released from a penal colony in the Yaroslavl region. In footage published on Instagram by his son Ilez, Barakhoev is seen being met by relatives at the gates of the colony.
Later the same day, 54-year-old Musa Malsagov was released from IK-12 in the Volgograd region. His lawyer, Kaloy Akhilgov, reported the release. Malsagov was met by lawyers and friends.
Barakhoev, a member of the Ingush Committee of National Unity (IKNE) and the Council of Teips of the Ingush People, and Malsagov, head of IKNE, leader of the regional branch of the Russian Red Cross and a former deputy of the People’s Assembly of Ingushetia from the United Russia party, were detained in April 2019 following mass protests in Ingushetia against the border agreement with Chechnya.
On 3 April 2019, the Magas District Court remanded them in custody together with the leader of the Support for Ingushetia (Opora Ingushetii) movement, Barakh Chemurziev. Initially, all three were charged under an administrative article, but criminal proceedings were subsequently opened.
Investigators charged them with creating an extremist community and organising violence dangerous to the life or health of representatives of the authorities. According to the prosecution, the IKNE allegedly served as a cover for the extremist community. Other defendants were later added to the case.
In December 2021, a court in Yessentuki found seven protest leaders guilty and sentenced them to between seven and nine years’ imprisonment in a general-regime colony. In July 2023, the appellate court upheld the prison terms but tightened the part of the sentence concerning restrictions on freedom after release: the earlier restriction within the district of residence was replaced with a restriction within the boundaries of a municipality. In June 2024, the cassation court rejected an appeal against the verdict.
Barakhoev and Malsagov fully served their nine-year sentences, taking into account time spent in pre-trial detention. None of the convicted men admitted guilt. During the trial, defence lawyers stated that those accused of organising violence were individuals who, in their account, had attempted to prevent clashes or had not spoken at the rally. The defence also pointed to the absence of witnesses directly confirming the defendants’ guilt and to statements by some witnesses in court that they had been pressured during the preliminary investigation.
The Human Rights Centre Memorial recognised those convicted in the ‘Ingush case’ as political prisoners.
The protests in Magas took place on 26–27 March 2019. Participants opposed the border agreement between Ingushetia and Chechnya. On 27 March, the rally ended in clashes with OMON and National Guard officers. Criminal proceedings were subsequently opened. According to human rights defenders, more than 50 people became defendants in criminal cases and over 200 were held administratively liable.
Malsag Uzhakhov and Akhmed Pogorov remain in penal colonies. Pogorov was sentenced in November 2024. Before that, he had been held in a remand centre.
On Wednesday, the plane on which Akhmed Barakhoev was due to arrive in Ingushetia landed at the airport in Beslan, North Ossetia. At the same time, around 200 people had gathered at the airport in Ingushetia to meet him. Passengers were told that the route had been changed due to weather conditions. Sources cited by the local independent media outlet Fortanga also said that earlier some residents had been summoned to law enforcement agencies and asked about their plans to meet those released.
According to a Fortanga source, the Ingush Head Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, was on the same flight from Moscow.
