Chechen TV declares groundless departure of Titiev's family

Relatives of the rights defender Oyub Titiev are unaware of his family destination. This was announced by the report shown in the nightly news of the "Grozny" Chechen State TV and Radio Company on January 16.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 11, the court ruled to place Oyub Titiev into custody for two months on charges of possessing marijuana. Titiev claims that the drug was planted on him by a law enforcer. He told his advocate that law enforcers had forced him into self-incrimination and threatened to bring criminal cases against his relatives on promoting terrorism. On January 14, Titiev's advocate informed that the family of Chechen rights defender had left Chechnya for security reasons.

Oyub Titiev's nephew has stated that he is currently at home, continues working, and no pressure is exerted on him. The young man also noted that he "does not know where his uncle's family is now." According to his story, they had left, "without notifying anyone."

The footage also showed several women and a man. They stated that they "do not know who Oyub Titiev is, and had never even hear such a name."

The words of Oyub Titiev's nephew "should be trusted with hope, but with caution," believes Oleg Orlov, a member of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", noting that he could not be sure of the truth of the nephew's words.

"But I'm glad to hear such words from Oyub Titiev's nephew; probably there is hope that he's really not under pressure," Mr Orlov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.