Chechnya: attempt to intimidate employees of the HRC "Memorial"

On June 17, power agents detained four employees of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya and threatened to execute them.

Shakhman Akbulatov, head of the Office of the HRC "Memorial" in Grozny, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he and three of his colleagues - Zarema Mukusheva, Milana Bakhaeva and Yaragi Gairbekov - went to the village of Goity to make photos of the place where earlier people had been illegally kept. When they finished making photos of the site and moved towards their car, two persons in civilian clothes drove up to them and invited them to the ROVD (District Militia Station) to "have things cleared". Neither those law enforcers, who detained them, nor those, who interrogated them later, ever present themselves. The human rights activists' advocate was not admitted to them.

"They asked about the aim of photographing, they told us that we, human rights activists, are writing only 'in the negative', that we 'work on those 'bearded guys' and receive money from them', etc. Then, after clarifications and explanations, they set us free," one of the human rights activists said.

Meanwhile, Nurdi Nukhazhiev, Chechen Ombudsman, when commenting on the incident, accused human rights activists of what has happened. "Should they have warned the rural administration about the planned filming, this incident would never happen," he said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya has refused to make any comments on the detention of the employees of the HRC "Memorial", having assured that it was a usual check in such cases, and there is no need to blow up agiotage out of it.