On March 14, the Nalchik City Court announced the decision to liquidate the public organization “Council of Elders of the Balkar People of the KBR.” The reason was an appeal by the head of the organization, Ismail Sabanchiev, and other activists to the country’s leadership, published in the newspaper “Bulletin of the Balkar People”. The court considered it a call to extremism.
The appeal to President Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Federation Council, Speaker of the State Duma and Prosecutor General was published back in February 2022. In it, the elders spoke about the need for Balkaria to secede from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and form a new subject of the Russian Federation.
At the request of the prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Justice conducted an unscheduled inspection of the organization and identified a number of violations in reporting. In addition, the council did not hold congresses for three years, as provided for by its charter.
The Republican Department of the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to liquidate the Council of Elders. The court examined the publication in the newspaper “Bulletin of the Balkar People” and found that it contradicts the Constitutions of the Russian Federation and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and violates the law “On Combating Extremist Activities”, since it calls for a violent change in the foundations of the constitutional system.
In addition, the court pointed out violations in the activities of the organization: the absence of a list of participants and annual reports.
This is not the first time that the “Council of Elders of the Balkar People” has become the object of attention of the prosecutor’s office and the court. In May 2010, the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria already made a decision on its liquidation. The reason was the certificate published by the Council “The situation of the Balkar people in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic: sources of problems and ways to overcome them,” which, in the opinion of the prosecutor and the court, contained propaganda of the exclusivity or inferiority of citizens based on their attitude to nationality. “A number of conclusions presented in this analytical report do not correspond to reality, are of a clearly nationalistic nature and create the preconditions for ethnic hatred,” the prosecutor said then. The decision was appealed and overturned by the Supreme Court of Russia.
In 2019, another trial took place - this time the newspaper “Bulletin of the Balkar People” was accused of extremism, where an article by council member, Doctor of Historical Sciences Anatoly Alafayev “On the 10th anniversary of the Köndelen confrontation” was published. The article concerned the history of the Battle of Kanzhal in 1708, the formation of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and clashes between Balkars and Kabardians in the village of Kendelen in September 2008 and 2018, when Circassians celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Kanzhal resulted in interethnic confrontation.
Ismail Sabanchiev then rejected accusations of nationalism, saying that the real reason for the pressure on the Council was its opposition activities and calls for direct elections of the head of the republic. “The Council does not put forward any nationalist slogans. We know that it is not only the Balkars who suffer from the arbitrariness of the authorities,” he said.
In 2020, the congress of the Council of Elders, agreed upon with the authorities, was disrupted by unknown persons who broke into the forum hall and occupied the entire presidium.
Representatives of the Council of Elders were not present at the court hearing on March 14, but they intend to appeal the liquidation decision.
“We were absolutely unaware of the lawsuit. We were not informed,” the Caucasian Knot publication quotes Sabanchiev. - When were they able to conduct an examination? Or maybe they didn’t do it at all? We will deal with this, we will use all our forces. We will ensure that the decision is canceled, and everyone who participated in making this decision is deprived of their positions.”