Representatives of Kadyrov, Yevkurov insist on constitutionality of law, agreement establishing Ingushetia-Chechnya border - lawyers
ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 27 (Interfax) - Representatives of Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov insist on the constitutionality of the law and the agreement that establish the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya.
"We urge the Constitutional Court to reaffirm the constitutionality of the agreement concluded by the two republics and the law," lawyer Gaib Bersunkayev, who represents the stance of Kadyrov, told the press before the Tuesday meeting of the Constitutional Court.
Lawyer Alexander Orlov, who represents Yevkurov, expressed a similar view.
"This agreement establishes the border; it has not been changed, it has been established. The allegations that the border has been altered are untrue. The border has just emerged. We ask for recognizing the border agreement and the law as constitutional," Orlov said.
"We have been working on it [the border] for a long time, and it is finally an accomplished fact. We are hopeful we have the right legal stance and approach to justify the constitutionality of this agreement," Bersunkayev said.
The heads of Ingushetia and Chechnya, Yevkurov and Kadyrov, will not be present at the Tuesday hearing of the Russian Constitutional Court on the agreement on the border between the two republics, the representatives of the republics' heads said.
The Russian Constitutional Court will verify the constitutionality of the Ingushetia-Chechnya border agreement at the Tuesday hearing.
According to the press service of the Russian Constitutional Court, the open hearing will take place at the request of Yevkurov.
Yevkurov asked the Russian Constitutional Court to verify the constitutionality of the agreement on the Ingushetia-Chechnya border and the Ingush republic's law endorsing this agreement.
On September 26, the heads of Chechnya and Ingushetia signed an agreement to legalize the administrative border between the two constituent territories, which was not definitively delimitated since the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic collapsed in 1991. The document provides an equal exchange of territories. The Ingush parliament ratified the agreement on October 4, and the head of Ingushetia signed it into law on the same day. The decision caused discontent of some residents of Ingushetia. Unauthorized protests started in Magas on October 4. The protests were legalized on October 8.
On October 30, the Ingush Constitution al Court pronounced its ruling on the request of a group of deputies of the Ingush People's Assembly for verifying the constitutionality of the law on the border with Chechnya. The document was pronounced unlawful. The court said that the agreement on the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya should be approved at a referendum.
Yevkurov told Interfax that the declared incompliance of the border agreement with the Constitution of Ingushetia was not a reason for its cancellation.
Yevkurov appealed to the Russian Constitutional Court on November 8 for verifying the border agreement's constitutionality.