| Dec 12 2005 2:59PM Putin prioritizes measures against abductions in Chechnya GROZNY. Dec 12 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Chechen authorities and police to take measures to prevent abductions. "You should do your utmost to put an end to abductions. You should find and punish people who breach the law, no matter who they are or what organizations they work for. It is also necessary to punish those who do not wish to lay down their arms, despite the opportunities they have been given to do so," Putin said at the first meeting of the Chechen parliament in Grozny on Monday. PRIMA News 12.12.2005 Trial over Stanislav Dmitriyevsky RUSSIA, Nizhny Novgorod. (Russian-Chechen Friendship Society Information Centre). On 7 December, Sovetsky District Court in Nizhny Novgorod continued to hear a criminal case against Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, editor-in-chief of Pravo-zaschita newspaper and executive director of Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. He is accused of inciting racial, ethnic and social hostility. Galina Vronskaya, senior lecturer at the chair of journalism of Chuvashia State University and president of the Guild of Linguistic Experts of Chuvashia, acted as an expert witness for the defence at the trial. She told the court that in her appraisal, the publications, that Dmitriyevsky has been incriminated with, contain no degrading descriptions, negative appraisals or statements in relation to racial, ethnic or social groups or individuals representing them. The expert drew the court’s attention to the fact that the offending publications contain many facts that in themselves cannot be regarded as inciting any kind of hostility unless proven untrue. "But these are the matters for historians, sociologists and other specialists as they are not the subject of language study," stressed Vronskaya. The court also heard other witnesses for the defence: Usam Baisayev, member of Nazran office of Memorial Human Rights Centre, who wrote a number of books and reports on human rights situation in Chechen Republic, and Igor Kalyapin, president of regional NGO Committee Against Torture. Both witnesses gave detailed accounts of the cases of massacre of civilian population in Chechnya, indiscriminate bombings, extra-judicial executions, torture and abductions, known to them, that were committed by members of Russian security forces. Both witnesses agreed that in view of these facts, Aslan Makhadov had reasons to describe the individuals, who perpetrated these actions, in such emotive and stark terms as "invaders" and "terrorists" and their crimes as "an outrage". They also told the court about the response of the Chechen population to Pravo-zashchita newspaper edited by Dmitriyevsky. In their words, the newspaper helped to overcome the climate of distrust and hostility between the Russians and the Chechens. According to Baisayev, the Chechens who saw the newspaper for the first time were inevitably surprised that there are Russian people across the country who care about their pain and suffering and the fate of the Chechen people. It convinced them that the crimes committed by individual members of the Russian armed forces acting on behalf of the state cannot be regarded as crimes of the Russian people. The witnesses spoke at length about the help provided by Russian-Chechen Friendship Society to the Chechen children. Kalyapin quoted from essays written by the schoolchildren who visited Nizhny Novgorod on invitation from Dmitriyevsky: "we visited Nezhnyi [Gentle] Novgorod", "we had a ride on the helicopter that doesn’t shoot". Dmitriyevsky was represented in court by two lawyers from different ethnic backgrounds: Yury Sidorov, who is Russian, and Leila Khamzayeva, who is Chechen. They come from the ethnic groups between whom, the prosecution claims, Dmitriyevsky incited hostility. The court building was picketed by some 30 members of pro-Putin movement Nashi (Our People), who held a placard saying: "Terrorist cannot be a peacekeeper", and also by several residents of Nizhny Novgorod, who took part in hostilities in Chechnya. Protesters demanded maximum sentence for Dmitriyevsky. However, the authorities refused permission to stage picket in support of Dmitriyevsky citing the law that prohibits undue pressure on court. It was reported that on 2 September 2005, Stanislav Dmitriyevsky was charged under Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code with "actions aiming to incite hatred or hostility, and likewise to degrade an individual or a group of individuals on the basis of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion, and likewise affiliation to a social group". The article stipulates the punishment of up to five years in prison. Criminal case against Dmitriyevsky was brought in January 2005 after Pravo-zashchita newspaper had published appeals by Aslan Maskhadov and Akhmed Zakayev calling to peaceful resolution of the Russian-Chechen conflict. The publication contained sharp criticism of actions by the Russian leadership, Russian armed forces and personally by President Putin. Human rights activists believe that the charges against Dmitriyevsky are politically motivated and aim to abolish freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. On 15 November Amnesty International issued an open statement expressing concern at a campaign of harassment against RCFS from various state bodies and stated that if Dmitriyevsky is found guilty of the charges, he would be considered to be a prisoner of conscience. Earlier, former Russian Ombudsman Serghei Kovalyov spoke at the trial as a witness for the defence. Translated by Olga Sharp PRIMA-News Agency [2005-12-09-Rus-36] RCIA reports Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 892 Brutal murder of Achkhoy-Martan resident in Mozdok On 22 November 2005 a native of the Chechen Achkhoy-Martan district center Turko Madaev (born 1967) was brutally murdered in the town of Mozdok of the republic of the North Osetia-Alania. The man was beaten up to death by the owners of the house that he rented for his family. After Madaev's death, his wife and five children (aged from 2 to 12) have no breadwinner. The murdered man worked as a self-employed welder. A correspondent of the Russian-Chechen Information Agency has managed to carry an independent investigation and to establish some of the details of the tragedy. Two years ago Turko Madaev and his family moved to the town of Mozdok. They settled down in a rented house situated at the address 10 Lugovskaya Street. According to the testimony of the murdered man's wife, the house belongs to two brothers, Nikolay (aged 35) and Maxim (aged 21). The Madaevs were on friendly terms with. Several times the brothers were guests at Turko Madaev's relatives' living in Chechnya. Not far from the tragedy the brothers told Turko that they were going to move from Mozdok and offered him to buy their house. Turko agreed and in a year he managed to buy out half of the household. In the middle of November Madaev's wife and the children went to the Chechen district center of Achkhoy-Martan to attend the funerals of one of her past relatives. Turko Madaev had to stay at home by himself. Turko and his wife spoke over the phone every day. Having called him on November 23, the woman felt concerned about the fact he didn't answer the phone call. She called some of their neighbors with the request to find out what had happened. The neighbors told her that they had not seen Turko for a few days and that Nikolay and Maxim were seen driving the car that belonged to Turko. Having returned home, the woman didn't find her husband but she saw many blood marks in the house, both on the floor and on the ceiling. The police was called to the house. The brothers admitted their guilt of committing the murder. An investigative experiment was carried out and some dreadful details of the crime were established. Turko Madaev was beaten up to death with a heavy sledge-hammer. In the brothers' words, they hit Turko four times at his head with the hammer and then jabbed him with a knife in the area of his heart four times. Having killed the man, the brothers rolled the body into the blanket and buried. On Turko Madaev' murder a criminal case was initiated and the investigation is being (From our correspondent) Achkhoy-Martan district. Chechen Republic Report # 891 Arbitrary detention of the imam of the mosque in Achkhoy-Martan district center On 3 December 2005 the imam of the mosque in Achkhoy-Martan district center Khaskhanov Al'vi Khasanoivch was arbitrarily detainedand then released the same day. According to his testimonies, on 3 December at about 1 pm three vehicles with unknown armed people in camouflage and masks stopped near him when he was walking along Pavlov Street ???????. Having said nothing to him, the men grabbed him and forced into one of their cars. Khaskhanov was taken to a place that was absolutely unfamiliar to him where he was subjected to an interrogation. The RCIA correspondent reports Khaskhanov as stating that the only question the abductors were interested in referred to his alleged connections with the representatives of the underground Vakkhabi movement. Al'vi Khaskhanov rejected all the allegations. The interrogation lasted until 23.30 and then the abductors brought him to the outskirts of Achkhoy-Martan district center and released. (From our correspondent) Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 890 Abduction of a resident of Shali district center At night from December 4 to December 5, 2005 the service personnel of an unidentifiable force agency subjected Abasoz Ruslan Saidovich (born 1973) to an enforced disappearance. The man was taken away from his own house located at the address 104 Naberezhnaya Street. As of the present moment, the whereabouts and the fate of the abducted man remain unknown. (From our correspondent) http://www.ria.hrnnov.ru/eng/index.php |