Picketers in Grozny demand that Chechen authorities find and punish murderers of Ilaev brothers

On December 18, a picket demanding investigation of the murder of three Ilaev brothers was held in Grozny opposite the Ombudsman of Chechnya; the brothers were assassinated earlier this month. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by one of the picketers - Kheda Saratova, journalist of the South-Russian Information and Analytical Agency.

Bodies of Akhdan and Alvi Ilaev were found with traces of torture in the morgue on December 3 - two days after they had been detained by power agents, as their relatives assert. According to Ms Saratova, the body of the third brother - militiaman Zurab Ilaev - was found on December 10 in one of the dumps of the capital of Chechnya. He was beaten and strangled.

There were over 40 participants of the picket: relatives of the murdered young men and members of the NGOs "Mothers' Alarm", "Laman As", "Coalition", and "North-Caucasian Peacemaking Centre".

The picketers have adopted an appeal to the President, Public Prosecutor, Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya and Russian Ombudsman demanding to find and punish those guilty of murdering the Ilaevs.

Ombudsman of Chechnya Nurdi Nukhazhiev received the protesters and promised to promote the objective opening of the crimes and to control the course of the already initiated criminal case.