The signatories of the appeal in defense of scientists of the Institute for Humanitarian Research of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic are under pressure, they are summoned to law enforcement agencies. This was reported by the Memorial Human Rights Protection Center.

On November 18, 2022, human rights activists, public figures and teachers of the KBR sent an open letter to the head of the republic, Kazbek Kokov. They asked to stop the persecution of the Institute’s scientists who are trying to “recreate the true history, to defend the native languages of the peoples of the North Caucasus, which, according to UNESCO, are on the verge of extinction.”

A year later, none of the signatories received a response. Instead, they began to be summoned to the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for Nalchik for written explanations. At the same time, the investigators were not interested in the essence of the appeal - they asked about who and how organized the preparation and sending of the letter.

On November 21, 2023, public figures sent an appeal to the head of the republic and reported pressure on people who signed a letter addressed to him a year ago. Three weeks later, the two people who signed the appeal received a call from employees of the regional Center for Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and rudely insisted on a meeting. One of these two was Azamat Shormanov, from whom the police demanded to appear without an official summons. He sent a statement to the prosecutor, the Commissioner for Human Rights and the chairman of the Human Rights Center of the CBD. In his statement, Shormanov emphasized that “giving explanations under Russian law is voluntary” and he considers the actions of law enforcement officers to be direct pressure on him for exercising the right enshrined in Art. 51 of the Constitution.