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Russian Rights Activist Says His Home Surrounded


Magomed Mutsolgov in Ingushetia in March
Magomed Mutsolgov in Ingushetia in March

A rights activist in Russia's North Caucasus region of Ingushetia says police have surrounded his house in the town of Karabulak, 20 kilometers north of the region's capital, Magas.

Magomed Mutsolgov, a human rights defender and blogger, said in a Facebook post on April 14, "It's my turn once again to experience arbitrariness...my house and office in Karabulak are surrounded by authorities."

The reason for the police action was not immediately known. Mutsolgov is the head of the Mashr (Peace) human rights organization.

In June, investigators accompanied by masked officers searched Mutsolgov's home.

Mutsolgov wrote in a blog post for the site later on June 30 that the law-enforcement officers conducted themselves "appropriately" during the search and did not "plant" any evidence.

Mashr, established in April 2005 by the relatives of kidnapped or missing residents of Ingushetia, is one of the few NGOs in Russia's North Caucasus that monitors human rights abuses in the volatile region.

Russia's Justice Ministry in 2015 placed the group on its official register of organizations "operating as foreign agents."

A Russian law adopted in 2012 requires any NGO that receives funding from abroad and engages in political activity to formally register as a "foreign agent."

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