Khazbiev: Uzhakhovs were not militants

Brothers Ruslan and Murad Uzhakhov, shot dead on January 24 in the centre of Nazran, were not militants and did not open any response fire; this can be evidenced by eyewitnesses. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Magomed Khazbiev, head of the Organizing Committee of the Ingush Nationwide Rally, and Maksharip Aushev, a member of the Committee.

We remind you that the Uzhakhov brothers killed in the course of the operation in Nazran - Murad, born in 1976, and Ruslan, born in 1982, - were in the "Photo Kodak" Centre and, according to law enforcement bodies, rendered armed resistance.

"I knew these guys, I often went to the senior one to have my photos taken in the photo booth, which he maintained," said Mr Khazbiev.

According to the head of the Organizing Committee of the Ingush Nationwide Rally, Ruslan Uzhakhov had told him that about a year ago unknown persons came to him several times, accused him of Wahhabism and demanded to withdraw CDs about Islam from sale. "He was repeatedly visited by power agents, who asked whether he had been involved in attacks on employees of various power agencies, to bombardments, etc. He himself told me about it. Last time we talked with him about it a month ago," Magomed Khazbiev said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He said that he did not believe that the brothers were shooting back.

"The Uzhakhov brothers weren't Wahhabites. In general, Ingushes have their own Islam, with their own Ingush traditions and customs, the majority of them have no need of Wahhabism. However, all the unwanted persons in Ingushetia are accused of Wahhabism. I've spent a whole year to find out by what criteria special agencies treat people as Wahhabites. It turned out that everyone who doesn't do zikres (Ingush dances at funerals) and other Islamic innovations are announced to be Wahhabites," Mr Khazbiev has added.

"The murder of Ruslan and Murad Uzhakhov brothers, who were assassinated in the centre of Nazran, indicates that the situation with human rights hasn't improved," Maksharip Aushev has stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As he said, there are many witnesses ready to confirm that brothers were not shooting back.

He has added that he had personally known the brothers, and it was "a very poor family."

"It is a blow on Evkurov's team. He promised that there would be no more arbitrary executions - and here, it has happened again," Mr Aushev has added.

In his opinion, the bosses of the power agencies, who had conducted special operations under Zyazikov and discredited themselves in Ingushetia, are still in their posts; they should have been dismissed.

Meanwhile, Musa Pliev, adviser to the President, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that "according to his data, it really was a special operation."

"However, I'm in favour of defining the guilt of every offender exclusively by the court. Why couldn't they just detain them? Obviously, there were not enough proofs of their guilt," said Mr Pliev.

Let us note here that FSB officers have stated that the brothers were involved in resonant crimes. "The Uzhakhov brothers were involved in blowing up a prosecutor of the city of Karabulak in September 2008," a spokesman of the Russian FSB Department for Ingushetia has told.