Thursday, July 30, 2020
Kochesokov, the Golunov of the North Caucasus, Facing Ten Years Behind Bars
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 28 – Martin Kochesokov, the Circassian activist who was arrested on the same day as Moscow journalist Ivan Golunov now faces up to ten years in prison because the authorities planted drugs on him just as they did on Golunov but the powers that be do not face the united opposition of his colleagues that forced them to drop charges and release Golunov.
In an interview yesterday, Kochesokov says that his tragedy and that of the Circassians is that Russian officials appointed by Moscow to run their affairs have gotten used to the idea that they can do anything they want, including make people simply disappear; and they are less responsive than officials in Moscow (meduza.io/feature/2020/07/27/esli-ne-sbavlyu-aktivnost-menya-voobsche-ne-naydut). Read more