10:10:00:00
Soundbite, Bashir, guide/guard:
During your stay in the hotel you must not leave without us accompanying you. You should not leave the hotel. If anybody calls whom you don’t know, don’t answer. If they call you tell us you had a phone call. Write down the number, keep it. What else....
10:10:15:00
VO: Who is a friend and who is the enemy? We have just landed in Nazran, Ingushetia, a republic of the Russian federation, situated in northern Caukasus. Our guide, Bashir protects us. He explains that the armed man in the lobby is there to guarantee our security.
10:10:39:00
VO: There is no working judicial system in Ingushetia. It is a lawless society. Under the newly removed president, Murat Zijazikov’s robust ruling, the suspected terrorists, mainly from the neighbouring republic of Chechnya, has verged in pure harassment of the inhabitants.
10:11:05:00
Soundbite, Magomed Mutsulgov, human rights activist:
We suffered the most horrible crimes that never has been characteristic to our region. There is murder and kidnappings of old people, women and children. During the last years 163 persons disappeared in our republic. More than 800 were killed. If we consider that our republic is small, only 470.000 people live here, then it’s clear that this is a big tragedy for us.
10:11:29:00
Soundbite, Voice over, Lida Arsajeva:
Of course I’m afraid. Who’s not?
10:11:37:00
VO: In May this year the eldest son of Lida Arsajeva was shot dead in the street near his home during a so called special operation. The Russian federal security forces and the local police stop all cars with dark windows, the drivers are interrogated and the cars searched. Our Ingushetian guide tells us that this is a part of everyday life here and that all residents are regarded as potential terrorists. The security forces claim that the 22 year old boy Isa was a terrorist and that he was the first to shoot.
10:12:18:00
Soundbite, Lida Arsajeva:
I fed my son, saw him out and in 5 minutes he was killed. I understand that each man must answer to his deeds. But again, there should be an investigation and only after that there should be punishment, not just shooting. If he was guilty then try him at court.
10:12:45:00
Soundbite, Magomed Ausjev, clan leader:
When they start this pressure, violence, these jungle laws, people take up arms and start to wage war. What can they do? Situation gets worse. The more that happens from one side, the more from the other side.
10:13:14:00
VO: Mogomed Ausjev is the clan leader of Ausjev, one of the 10 biggest and most powerful clans in the republic of Ingushetia, a far more dangerous and violent place today than neighbouring Chechnya. In 2008 alone more than 50 people have been killed and hundreds have been wounded in attacks against the police, military and government.
10:13:38:00
Soundbite, Magomed Ausjev, clan leader:
If someone´s brother is killed, killed for no reason, his brother takes up arms and go into the woods. If 3-4 years ago there were hundreds of them, then now there is one thousand.
10:14:04:00
VO: Here in the mountains of Caucasus the armed opposition has its base. In recent years the militant islamistic Wahabites have moved their headquarters from Chechnya to Ingushetia. They call themselves “The Ingushian Sector of the Caucasian Front” and are led by Emir Magas. Magas became the newly appointed commander in chief of the force when the notorious terrorist Sjamil Basajev was killed. On a new webpage they describe their attacks, hoping for an Islamic emirate in Caucasus.
10:14:43:00
Soundbite, Enver Kisriev, Caucasus expert, Moscow:
I think that these people recieve money from their islamic sponsors. It could be people from Pakistan, Saudiarabia, Jordan, from every country where rich muslims live, they can give this money. With help from this money they organize sites and create an opportunity to translate their ideas for a wide layer in society. People like to listen to them. Generally it influences the education of the young generation.
10:15:19:00
VO: Strong forces are promoting a fundamental kind of Islam in Ingushetia. Nearly every week shops selling alcohol or cigarettes are set on fire. One morning we learn that a little shop in Nazran was attacked the previous night. And just a couple of hours before leaving Ingushetia, the team is threatened by heavily armed men supporting the ex-president Zjazikov. We spend the rest of the time at the hotel, and this invisible war does not seem to have an end in sight.
10:15:55:16
END
Reporter: Anna Maja Persson
Cameraman: Rikard Collsiöö
Editing: Sami Putkinen