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11 FEB 2025

"The Ingush case": ECHR recognizes human rights violations in one of Russia’s largest political cases

11 FEB 2025

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On February 6, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) reviewed the cases of 11 defendants involved in the Ingush case.
Following a peoples’ protest in 2019 in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, administrative charges were filed against hundreds of participants, while dozens faced criminal charges.
The “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” project recognized the defendants as political prisoners.
The applicants were represented before the ECHR by lawyer Vanessa Kogan from the “Legal Initiative” foundation, lawyer Andrey Sabinin, and lawyer Tatyana Glushkova from the Memorial Center.

About the Case

On March 27, 2019, a protest in Magas against changes to the administrative border with Chechnya was violently dispersed. This was followed by repressive actions against the protesters. Hundreds of participants faced administrative charges, while dozens were prosecuted criminally.
The spontaneous mass protest was portrayed as a conspiracy by "leaders of the Ingush opposition," leading to a fabricated criminal case and a high-profile show trial.
In December 2021, the Kislovodsk City Court, in a special session in Essentuki, sentenced Malsag Uzhakhov, Akhmed Barakhoev, Zarifa Sautieva, Musa Malsagov, Ismail Nalgiyev, Bagaudin Khautiev, and Barakh Chemurziev to prison terms ranging from 7.5 to 9 years. They were found guilty of using violence against law enforcement officers (Article 318 of the Criminal Code), creating an extremist organization (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), and participating in it.
Malsag Uzhakhov was also convicted of organizing a group that incited citizens to commit unlawful acts (Part 2, Article 239), while Akhmed Barakhoev was convicted of participating in it (Part 3, Article 239 of the Criminal Code).
Thirteen lawyers and seven public defenders worked on the case. According to them, all charges were declarative in nature. The indictment frequently used words such as “probably,” “presumably,” and “possibly,” while the word “approximately” appeared 11,000 times.
For a detailed analysis of the persecution, see our report “One of the Largest Political Cases in Russian History”.
Two political prisoners, Bagaudin Khautiev and Zarifa Sautieva, have been released after serving their sentences.

ECHR Ruling

The applicants complained of violations of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights:
  • Article 5 – Right to liberty and security
  • On April 3, 2019, the applicants were arrested solely for the purpose of drafting an administrative offense report. The courts also took an unreasonably long time to review their detention.
  • Article 6 – Right to a fair trial
  • The complaint argued that the court showed bias against Akhmed Barakhoev, as the administrative proceedings lacked a prosecuting party altogether.
  • Article 11 – Freedom of assembly and association
  • This article was violated in the administrative convictions of several applicants under the charge of "organizing a mass gathering of citizens in public places that led to a disturbance of public order" (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and the criminal charges of "using violence against a government representative" (Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code).
The Court ruled in favor of the applicants, citing the lack of justification in the Russian court rulings and the disproportionate measures taken against the political prisoners.
The ECHR awarded compensation as follows:
  • €6,500 each to Akhmed Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov, Bagaudin Khautiev, Magomed Khamkhoev, and Gelani Khamkhoev.
  • €6,000 each to Amir Oskanov, Ismail Nalgiyev, and Hasan Katsiyev.
  • €4,600 to Hasan Zyazikov.
  • €1,000 each to Akhmed Nalgiyev and Zubeyr Khamkhoev.
It is worth noting that on March 16, 2022, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe, effectively removing it from the jurisdiction of the ECHR. In June 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russia to disregard ECHR rulings issued after March 15, 2022.

ECHR Ruling

The applicants complained of violations of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights:
  • Article 5 – Right to liberty and securityOn April 3, 2019, the applicants were arrested solely for the purpose of drafting an administrative offense report. The courts also took an unreasonably long time to review their detention.
  • Article 6 – Right to a fair trialAccording to the complaint, the court was not impartial in the case of Akhmed Barakhoev, as the administrative offense proceedings lacked a prosecuting party altogether.
  • Article 11 – Freedom of assembly and associationThis article was violated in the administrative convictions of several applicants under the charge of "organizing a mass gathering of citizens in public places that led to a disturbance of public order" (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and the criminal charges of "using violence against a government representative" (Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code).
The Court ruled in favor of the applicants, citing the lack of justification in the Russian court rulings and the disproportionate measures taken against the political prisoners.
The ECHR awarded compensation as follows:
Akhmed Barakhoev, Musa Malsagov, Bagaudin Khautiev, Magomed Khamkhoev, and Gelani Khamkhoev were awarded €6,500 each.Amir Oskanov, Ismail Nalgiyev, and Hasan Katsiyev were awarded €6,000 each.Hasan Zyazikov was awarded €4,600.Akhmed Nalgiyev and Zubeyr Khamkhoev were awarded €1,000 each.
It is worth noting that on March 16, 2022, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe, effectively removing it from the jurisdiction of the ECHR. In June of that same year, Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russia to disregard ECHR rulings issued after March 15.

Previous ECHR Rulings on the Ingush Case

Lawyers have submitted dozens of complaints to the ECHR regarding the Ingush case.
  • July 2022 – The ECHR ruled in favor of Bagaudin Myakiev, ordering Russian authorities to pay him €1,000 for unlawful detention.
  • April 2023 – The court awarded €3,500 each to Albert Balakhoev, Magomed Nakostkhoev, Ibrahim Dugiyev, Magomed-Bashir Katsiyev, Murat Bekov, Savarbek Uzhakhov, Askhap Goigov, and Rezvan Ozdoev.
  • March 2024 – The ECHR ruled in favor of activist Ismail Nalgiyev, awarding him €3,500 in compensation.
  • June 2024 – The ECHR ruled in favor of Barakh Chemurziev, citing "lack of sufficient and reasonable grounds for detention" and "lack of judicial impartiality."
  • September 2024 – The court ruled in favor of Ingush case participant Zarifa Sautieva, finding that Russian authorities violated her rights during the investigation and awarding her €1,000 in compensation.
  • January 2025 – The ECHR awarded €3,500 to Ingushetia’s mufti Isa Khamkhoev. In February 2021, the Magas District Court fined him 10,000 rubles for holding a meeting of Islamic scholars on November 21, 2020. During the meeting, participants drafted an appeal to federal authorities demanding the release of Ingush protest leaders.

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