24 December 2023, 20:54
Rights defenders note no progress in case of attacking journalists in Ingushetia
For seven years, investigators have been unable to identify the attackers on journalists on the Chechen-Ingush border, the “Team against Torture” (TaT)* has stated.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in May 2017, the advocate filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office against the investigator, who, according to the defence, did not allow him to study the case materials. In April 2018, victims continued complaining that they had no sufficient information about the inquiry progress. In February 2019, the Magas District Court rejected the complaint against the investigators’ refusal to provide the case materials.
On March 9, 2016, in Ingushetia, not far from the Chechen border, a minibus of the Combined Mobile Group of Human Rights Defenders was attacked. Eight journalists and human rights defenders, as well as the bus driver, heading to Grozny were beaten up. The victims are confident that the attack was organized by the people close to Chechen authorities.
In December, the human rights organization “Team against Torture” (TaT)* received permission to familiarize itself with the materials of the attack case.
The inefficient inquiry into the attack fits into the general practice of failure to investigate attacks against human rights defenders in Ingushetia. In 2018, the office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”** was set on fire in Nazran; the crime also remained non-investigated, Oleg Orlov, a co-chairman of the HRC, has stated.
“We associated this with the general pressure on the ‘Memorial’**, especially since a case against Oyub Titiev was being fabricated in Chechnya at that time,” Mr Orlov has added.
The kidnapping case of Oleg Kozlovsky, a human rights defender, in Magas also remains non-investigated.
*The "Team against Torture" (TaT, formerly the "Committee against Torture" – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.
**On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the "International Memorial" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 23, 2023 at 04:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: СK correspondent
