| Thousands Rally in Chechnya to Protest After Russia
Acquits Troops of Murdering Civilians Created: 20.05.2005 15:26 MSK (GMT +3), MosNews Thousands of people gathered in the Chechen capital Friday to protest the acquittal of a Russian officer who killed six civilians in the republic, agencies report. A jury found a group of special purpose troops commanded by Captain Eduard Ulman not guilty on Thursday of murdering six civilians in mnuser=chechnya>Chechnya. The organizers of the sanctioned rally estimate several thousand will gather in the centre of Grozny, among them students and teachers of high schools, citizens of Grozny and Chechen villages. Captain Ulman's unit killed a civilian and subsequently extra-judicially executed five more in an incident in January 2002. In April 2004, they were acquitted by a jury, although they did not deny killing the civilians. They said they had been following orders. The case is currently being retried with sentencing expected to take place later this month. Chechens protest acquittal of Russian commandos 5/21/2005 AFP GROZNY, Russia: Some 3,000 Chechens demonstrated yesterday in the bombed-out city of Grozny against a Russian court’s decision to clear four commandos of murder on the grounds that they were following orders when they gunned down a group of unarmed Chechen civilians. The demonstration, which was rare for its size in the tense capital of Chechnya, included many young people and also members of the pro-Russian administration of the republic, where Russian forces continue to fight their second war against separatists in a decade. “The verdict was unfair,” Muslim Khuchiyev, a spokesman for the Russian-backed local president Alu Alkhanov, said. “We insist on another trial. Six of our citizens were killed. We will not allow that.” The protest concerned a jury verdict on Thursday at a military court in the southern Russian town of Rostov-on-Don which cleared four officers from the elite Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) forces of murder. The officers admitted to their roles in the killing on January 11, 2002 of six Chechens, including a village school teacher and a pregnant mother of seven. However, the jury accepted their defence that they were simply acting under orders and therefore not responsible. Placards at the Grozny rally targeted the man at the centre of the incident, Captain Eduard Ulman. “Ulman—murderer,” one said. “Ulman—facist,” said another. Chechnya – Ulman Case: Russian Officers Acquitted of murdering Civilians While Admitting to the Killings Vienna, 20 May 2005. A Russian court has acquitted four military officers who claimed they were following orders when they killed six Chechen civilians in January 2002, although their commanding officer denied having given such an order. On 19 May 2005, the North Caucasus district military court acquitted Capt. Eduard Ulman, Maj. Alexei Perelevsky, Lieu. Alexander Kalagansky and Warrant Officer Vladimir Voevodin, who were accused of having killed six civilians in Chechnya, including a pregnant woman, an old school director, and a juvenile. Five of the victims were deliberately and extrajudicially executed. In April 2004 the four servicemen had been acquitted in a jury trial in Rostov-on-Don, but a re-trial was ordered by the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court. During the trial and re-trial the military did not deny the fact of shooting civilians but claimed the defendants only fulfilled an order issued by their commanders. The head of the special operation Col. Plotnikov strongly denied that he had issued such an order. Now, for the second time, the jury unanimously found the accused not guilty and ruled that their actions were adequate to the current circumstances and were dictated by their occupational duty. Presiding judge Stanislav Zhidkov characterized this verdict as clear and not contradictory and acquitted the defendants on all charges. “This scandalous verdict is a slap in the face to the families of the victims and all the people in Chechnya, and also signals that the Russian court system is deeply flawed, particularly when it comes to Chechen cases. The verdict is consistent with the anti-Chechen propaganda in the Russian mass media and society”, commented Eliza Moussaeva, IHF consultant. On the day of the verdict, 19 May, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) published a report titled “Impunity: A Leading Force behind Continued Massive Violations in Chechnya”, claiming that “virtually no one has been brought to justice for thousands of severe human rights violations in Chechnya, a situation that perpetuates the violent conflict there”. The report described the Ulman-case in detail, and presented the arguments of the victims’ lawyer outlining the flaws in the legal proceedings, including the following: · The trial should not have taken place in a city like Rostov-on-Don because in Rostov strong racist anti-Chechen feelings persist, which makes it very hard to have an impartial and objective jury. · There were procedural violations in how the jury was formed, as well as in how the presiding judge instructed members of the jury; · the fact that the officers accused of pre-meditated murder were not put in custody before trial was in itself a signal that they are regarded as innocent. For more information: IHF Secretariat, Tel. +43–1–408 88 22: Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, Tel. +43–676–63 566 12; Henriette Schroeder, IHF Press Officer, Tel: +43–676–725 48 29, Joachim Frank, IHF Project Coordinator, Tel. + 43-676-31 22 3 48, Eliza Moussaeva, IHF Consultant, Tel: +43–676-305 26 42 In Moscow: Tanya Lokshina, +7- 916 624-1906 __________________________________________ Joachim Frank, Project Coordinator International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Wickenburggasse 14/7 A-1080 Vienna Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 22 Fax: +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 50 Web: http://www.ihf-hr.org ______________________________________ eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 19/5/2005 Public organisation sued for incitement The Nazran District Court of the Republic of Ingushetia conducted another hearing of the plea of the Ingush prosecutor's office for declaring information materials of the regional public movement Chechen Committee for National Salvation extremist. At the hearing, the representative of the plaintiff maintained the Committee's press releases implied that Russian forces and law enforcement agencies committed mass crimes which caused extremely negative attitude of the population towards representatives of state power and encouraged citizens to resist authorities. The mentioned materials are thus alleged to be extremist and aimed at the incitement of interethnic hatred, as well as other forms of contribution to extremist activities manifested in the condemnation and discrediting of the activities of law enforcement agencies and the justification of the activities of illegal armed groups operating in Chechnya. Since the burden of proving in civil proceedings is on the claimant, the representatives of the Committee suggested that the plaintiff should present proofs to the court that would confirm the allegations, which was not done for the absence thereof, the Committee says in a press release. eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 19/5/2005 Double killing in Chechnya The bodies of a 27-year-old contract serviceman from the Vostok ("East") Battalion of the Russian Defence Ministry and a 22-year-old unemployed local resident were found at a bus stop in Belgatoi, Shali district, at about 2.00 am on 18 May. The bodies had marks of gunshot wounds. This is what a source with Chechnya's Internal Affairs Ministry told Regnum news agency. An investigation established the serviceman was resident in Gudermes and the second killed man in Argun. A criminal case was opened with regard to the event. The Vostok Battalion is a unit within the Main Intelligence Department of the Russian General Staff. It consists of ethnic Chechens commanded by Sulim Yamadayev. They are therefore known as the Yamadayevtsy. The Application of the Special Representative of the President of the CRI On 15-th of May in the afternoon scrappy and inconsistent data about liquidation of the former vice-president of the CRI Vaha Arsanov appeared. And though for this moment there is no official acknowledgement of the fact of Vaha Arsanov's liquidation, the criminal habits of the occupational formations and their armed assistants in the Chechen Republic make us assume the most tragic variant of the event: namely, that we once again face the arbitrary political execution of a Chechen statesman accomplished by the Kremlin regime. According to our data, Vaha Arsanov was captured in the middle of January, 2005, in the settlement Chernoreche at the western suburb of the Chechen capital and he was kept in Ramzan Kadyrov's personal prison in the settlement Hosi-Yurt (Tsentoroi). There was information that the former vice-president of the CRI was subjected to tortures in order to cooperate with invaders, that is, they made him come out with anti-Chechen political declarations and take part in the known "Round Table", arranged by some representatives of the PACE. In this connection it would be desirable to remind to some deputies of the PACE: their cynical games and performances around the problem of a peace settlement of the Russian-Chechen conflict are not the last that increase number of victims among inhabitants of the Chechen Republic, quantity of hostages and arbitrary executions. Thus, the authoritative international organization declaring high humanistic principles, has voluntarily or involuntarily allowed to transform itself into a propaganda screen, behind which the severe genocide of Chechen people is accomplished, into an accomplice of the Kremlin crimes, and the fact of tortures of Vaha Arsanov with the purpose to make him cooperate with invaders in the "Round Table" of the PACE, and the information about his liquidation testify to it. Today it is senseless to appeal to common sense of the bogged down in blood Kremlin regime, which has lost any moral judgment of policy. However it would be desirable to remind once again to the international community and the organizations representing it, that encouragement of crimes against humanity, committed by the KGB Putin's clique, sooner or later will turn out to be a big trouble for whole Europe, which rears and fills with sensation of impunity one of the most aggressive and criminal regimes of the modern epoch with hands of its unscrupulous politicians. The history teaches that the one becomes an inevitable victim of the devil, who concludes a treaty with him. And it is fair. Ahmed Zakaev, the special representative of the President of the CRI. Chechenpress, the Department of the official information 21.05.05 http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/05/21/01.shtml 20.05.2005 License to kill In yesterday’s editorial The Chechen Times assured that Ulman’s intelligence group, which killed six Chechen civilians, was likely to be sentenced, although we suggested that their prison term would be quite comfortable. We were wrong. The jury acquitted the group of Ulman’s murderers once again. For the second time. “Innocent on all charges” – the jury ruled. The presiding jury member Stanislav Zhidkov called the verdict “clear” and “consistent.” The jury unanimously said that t he persecution had failed to prove the guilt of the defendants in full. Although the defendants told in detail how they opened fire at the vehicle, how they killed the wounded, how they burnt their bodies trying to imitate “an explosion.” They were considered innocent and can proceed with their duty… How can such idea occur to anyone? Six civilians were killed. Two elderly village teachers, a forester, a pregnant woman accompanied by her nephew and a driver. When Ulman and his men killed those who survived, they knew these people had nothing to do with rebels. According to the GRU group, it became clear after they searched the vehicle. In fact, they knew from the very beginning they opened fire not at “Khattab’s men”: the vehicle could not “move at a great speed” in winter time, even in summer 50 km/h is a suicide. Only a suicide would have dared not to stop after the military gave a warning burst. Ulman and his men are telling lies. They opened fire from an ambush because they knew they would never be punished in case of “a mistake.” That is what happened in the past, they also did it, and Ulman’s colleagues of extrajudicial executions do it today. We have already spoke about it… What’s now? What would we like to tell today? There is nothing to tell about. After such verdict by the jury it seems the entire world has lost the idea of cool judicial logic, but even human appearance. During the trial the group of Ulman’s killers did not repent even for a moment and the jury – common people, whose task is to say whether or not the murder of six civilians was a crime -–considered them completely innocent. Not far away from Rostov-on-Don, Nurpashi Kulayev is being tried in Vladikavkaz – the only alive terrorist from the group which seized a school in Beslan. Be sure: Kulayev will get a tough sentence. During the investigation he repeatedly said he had had no idea of where he was taken, he did not shoot, and he repented it. Yesterday, when the prosecution read out its document, he lost consciousness. Kulayev and Ulman are from the same war. Kulayev’s crime is evident, the guilt of Ulman is “fulfillment of military duty and orders from above,” and he cannot be tried for it. Today’s Russian cannot but be proud of such people as Ulman! What he and his men did and how the jury interpreted it – is “the new national idea” obtained by Putin’s country. Indeed, the jury acquitted not concrete butchers. They acquitted their attitude to the Chechens: old, young, men, women. According to the jury, killing civilians is not a crime, that means all the Chechens are guilty – even unborn children. From now on this a legal rule. This rule existed before, but now – turning into a legal precedent, Russia has issued its sadists in Chechnya a license to mass killings. The second verdict of “not guilty” was announced yesterday, and today the Russian society is not going to express indignation at it. The authorities and the society showed that they agree with the verdict and openly blessed the army to genocide again. The Chechen Times http://www.chechentimes.org/en/comments/?id=29082 |