Ingushetia. Statement of the "Civil Assistance" Committee: Karabulak trial and glasnost

Starting from September 2011, the Karabulak District Court is running a trial against Ilyas Nalgiev, a former senior operative officer for especially important cases of the Centre for Counteracting Extremism of the Criminal Police under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Ingushetia (RI), accused of committing crimes stipulated by points "a", "b" and "c", part 3, Article 286; point "a", part 3, Article 111; part 1 of Article 286; part 2 of Article 325; point "c", part 3, Article 226; point "c", part 3, Article 286; and part 3, Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian federation; and Nazir Guliev, the former head of the Karabulak ROVD (District Interior Division), accused of committing crimes stipulated by part 3 of Article 327; part 1, Article 286; point "a", part 3, Article 286, and part 3 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Recently, in the lobby of the courthouse, some participants of the trial have expressed their frustration that the trial is covered in detail by Internet editions. In this regard, the "Civil Assistance" Committee finds it necessary to declare the following:

The Committee believes that the trial of I. Nalgiev and N. Guliev has a great public importance; therefore, from the very beginning of the trial, we are running its continuous monitoring in the form of audio recording, which is then used for reports about the trial posted on the website of the "Civil Assistance" and in other Internet editions. This activity is conducted in full compliance with the law; part 5 of Article 241 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation reads as follows:

"The persons present at an open court session shall have the right to run audio recording and make written records. Making photos and video recording and (or) filming may be done with the permission of the presiding judge." The law assumes no permission of the presiding judge for making audio records.

The Committee intends to continue monitoring the trial and coverage thereof in mass media, and considers any attempts to interfere with this important, legitimate and socially demanded activity as unacceptable.

Chair of the "Civil Assistance" Committee,

Manager of the "Migration and Law" Programme of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial",

Member of the Governmental Commission on Migration Policy,

Member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Civil Society Development and Human Rights

Svetlana Gannushkina

Moscow, March 15, 2012