Picketers on anniversary of Natalia Estemirova's murder detained

Law enforcers detained Alexander Cherkasov, the chairman of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" Board, Svetlana Gannushkina, the head "Civic Assistance Committee", and Elena Milashina, a correspondent of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". The activists held a picket in the centre of Moscow to remind people of the unsolved murder of Natalia Estemirova.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a staff member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny, was kidnapped, taken to Ingushetia, and killed. She actively spoke out against kidnappings, extrajudicial executions, and falsifications of criminal cases.

Today, human rights defenders Alexander Cherkasov and Svetlana Gannushkina and journalist Elena Milashina have come to Red Square, being dressed in T-shirts with portraits of Natalia Estemirova. In their hands, they were holding three posters reading: "Human rights defender Natalia Estemirova was killed 10 years ago", "Customers and killers have not yet been found", "How's that, Mr. President?"

The participants of the picket in Red Square were detained 15 minutes after it began, reported on her Facebook page Tatiana Lokshina, the programme director of the Human Rights Watch's Office in Moscow.

The police drew up administrative protocols against the participants of the action in connection with the violation of the rules for holding solo pickets, and after that detained human rights defenders Alexander Cherkasov and Svetlana Gannushkina were set free.

The release of Svetlana Gannushkina was reported by Alexander Cherkasov, the chairman of the HRC "Memorial" Board. "Svetlana Gannushkina and I were released. The policemen are drawing up a protocol against Elena Milashin," Alexander Cherkasov wrote on his Facebook page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 15, 2019 at 07:18 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.