Petersburg townspeople picket in support of Ingush political prisoners

In Saint Petersburg, activists have held solo pickets in support of the arrested leaders of the Ingush protest, demanding their release. They have treated the return of Zarifa Sautieva back to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) from house arrest as "demonstrative mockery."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the leaders of the Ingush protest, accused within the case of the rally in Magas, went on a hunger strike and refused to participate in the trial in protest against the March 16 judgement to return Zarifa Sautieva back into custody a week after her transfer to the house arrest. On March 23, the activists stopped their hunger strike, explaining this by the requests of the Muftiate and the Council of Teips of Ingushetia.

In Saint Petersburg, the picketers recalled that the Ingush oppositionists had been persecuted for two years in connection with the rallies dedicated to the Ingush-Chechen border problem.

"Each of the picketers' posters is dedicated to one of the leaders of the Ingush protest, against whom groundless accusations of 'violence against state officials' and 'participation in an extremist community' have been put forward," Olga Smirnova, an activist,wrote in the "Peaceful Resistance. Saint Petersburg" community on the Facebook.

The photos show activists holding posters demanding the release of Akhmed Barakhoev, Zarifa Sautieva, Musa Malsagov, Bagaudin Khautiev, Barakh Chemurziev, Ismail Nalgiev and Malsag Uzhakhov. They treated the trial on this case as "a continuation of the Kremlin's destructive national policy in Northern Caucasus."

Magomed Bekov, an advocate, believes that any support from residents of other regions is important for the arrested Ingush activists.