| 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. |