11:30, 7 September 2019

Arrest of Ingush journalist Rashid Maisigov extended

Rashid Maisigov. Screenshot of oc-media.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFaKrDs2PWw

A Magas court has extended until October 12 the arrest of the Ingush journalist, Rashid Maisigov, accused of drug storage, his advocate has stated. The court session on the case of the Ingush activist, Zarifa Sautieva, has been postponed until September 9.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Maisigov was detained on July 12, 2019, after a search, during which a package with white powder and leaflets were found in his house. The journalist was accused of large-scale storing narcotic drugs. The Ingush activist, Zarifa Sautieva, has been under arrest since July 15.

"The trade union of journalists and media professionals demands to immediately release Maisigov," the Telegram channel of the union has stated.

According to the advocate, after detention, Maisigov complained about torture with electric shock. He refused from his earlier confessions. Authorities must stop prosecuting Maisigov and investigate his allegations of torture, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has stated.

On July 20, Ms Sautieva was accused of complicity in the use of violence against a state official. An examination of the video record of the rally in Magas and the testimony of a witness fail to prove Sautieva's guilt, her defence insists.

Earlier, Rashid Maisigov collaborated with the edition named "Fortanga", which covers protests in Ingushetia. Recently, the journalist complained about anonymous threats related to his work. On July 14, the "Fortanga" announced the blocking of its website. Then, the editorial board managed to achieve unblocking of the website after deleting a comment with forbidden information. The blocking coincided with Maisigov's arrest and was hardly accidental, Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights organization "Mashr", believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 6, 2019 at 09:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.