| 15:21 Aug.5, 2003 Abducted Chechen girl reportedly found safe and sound, protests end Residents of the village of Samashki have stopped their blockade of the Kavkaz federal motorway which passes through Achkhoi-Martan District. The local interior department told ITAR-TASS news agency this morning by phone that about 600 residents had again blocked the motorway. They demanded that the authorities detain the bandits who abducted 16-year-old Elza Katsayeva, a local resident, on August 2. "Now the picketers have left the motorway. According to preliminary information, the girl was found safe and sound. This information is currently being verified," the police said. The Chechen government too told ITAR-TASS that Samashki residents had cleared the motorway. Information about the return of the 16-year-old is being checked. //ITAR-TASS// http://www.gazeta.ru/lenta.shtml?270997#270997 (my translation) 17:43 August 5, 2003 The MVD of Northern Ossetia reported that Elsa Katsayeva's fate is still unknown As they reported on Tuesday to "Gazete.Ru" in the MVD of Northern Ossetiia, for law enforcing organs so far was impossible to establish fate of the abducted inhabitant of the Chechen settlement of Samashki. Previously an information appeared, and according to it the girl was freed; however, later this information was not confirmed. On Saturday, the armed people in masks broke into a house of one of the inhabitants of Samashki and forcibly took away Katsayeva. So far it was impossible to detain those criminals. Gazeta.Ru http://www.lenta.ru/vojna/2003/08/05/elza/ (translation by M.L.) Residents of the Chechen village of Samashki are blocking the Kavkaz highway again The federal higway "Kavkaz" was blocked again by the residents of the Chechen village of Samashki on Tuesday morning. Already at 09:00 AM local time, the intersection of Rostov-Baku and Achkhoy-Martan-Samashki, on the highway, there were more than 300 people. As reported to Interfax the head of the administration of the Achkhoy-Martan district Ali Dalnayev, at this moment, along the highway cannot even pass vehicles with the highest officials, the soldiers and the workers of law enforcing organs Because of that from Achkhoy-Martan it is not possible to move to other populated areas, which lie west to the "Kavkaz". The number of protesters constantly increases. Let us recall that the residents of Samashki demand from authorities to take measures and search of their countrywoman, teenager Elsa Katsayeva, abducted on the 2nd of August. Then some armed people in masks broke into one of the houses of village, captured the girl, and then hid in an unknown place. On the 4th of August, in the middle of day, the place of picket visited Moscow businessman, native of Chechnya, Malik Saydullayev. He stated that "the law enforcing organs badly fight against criminality" and promised to render assistance in Elsa Katsayeva's search. At the same time, after a promise from the republic authorities to find the abducted girl, inhabitants of the village removed the blockade from the higway. |