Authorities of Grozny ban the meeting of relatives of the persons kidnapped in Chechnya and Dagestan

The authorities of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, have failed to sanction a meeting that was to be held by the relatives of the persons kidnapped in Chechnya and Dagestan. Several residents who came to the place of the meeting told journalists about the aim of the action, the Radio Liberty reports.

According to the participants of the action, the prosecutor's office and the courts sentence to long terms of imprisonment those who have pled guilty under pressure, the information of the "Gazeta.ru" runs.

The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that Nurdi Nukhazhiev, Ombudsman in Chechnya, in his appeal to Russian leadership offered to create an interdepartmental commission for searching of kidnapped and missing citizens, since the problem is still actual for the Republic.

Also, on October 11, Mr Nukhazhiev addressed President of Russia Vladimir Putin with a request to meet Chechen human rights activists in order to discuss the problem of kidnappings in the territory of the Republic.

Earlier the Ombudsman of Chechnya Nurdi Nukhazhiev has declared that during the two military campaigns in the territory of the Chechen Republic a total of about four and a half thousand persons disappeared.

According to the Human Rights Centre "Memorial," only in the period from 2002 till the autumn of 2006, a total of 1046 persons disappeared in the territory of the Chechen Republic. The employees of the HRC "Memorial" emphasize that their activity covers no more than 25-30% of the total territory of Chechnya.