"Memorial" confirmed information of "Caucasian Knot" about burnt-down houses of relatives of militants killed in attack on Grozny

On December 6-7, in Chechnya, six houses belonging to relatives of the militants, some of whom were identified among those killed in the attack on Grozny on December 4, were burned down, said the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial". Thus, the "Memorial" has confirmed the information of the "Caucasian Knot" about burning down houses of militants' relatives in Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported referring to locals that on December 7 in the village of Yandi, Achkhoi-Martan District of Chechnya, power agents burnt down houses of three families of relatives of the members of the armed underground killed on December 4 in Grozny.

On December 6, they burned down the house of Yunus (or Yusup, by other sources) Gekhaev in the eastern outskirt of Gudermes. On December 5, his parents were called to Grozny, identified their son among the killed militants. At dawn, their house was approached by armed masked men, who drove the tenants out into the street and burned the house down, says the release of the HRC "Memorial" received by the "Caucasian Knot".

On December 7, they burned down several houses in the village of Engel-Yurt, Gudermes District, and in the village of Yandi, Achkhoi-Martan District.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 5, Ramzan Kadyrov held a meeting, during which he announced the introduction of the principle of collective responsibility of families of members of the armed underground. The head of Chechnya said that militants' relatives will be expelled from the republic, and their houses will be demolished.

The above Kadyrov's statement followed a militants' attack on Grozny on December 4.

On the night of December 4 militants attacked policemen in Grozny. The Chechen capital was put under the counterterrorist operation regime. Most of the attackers took refuge in the House of Press, and some of them – in School No. 20; both buildings were blocked. According to latest reports, the fight resulted in 11 killed members of the armed underground and 14 lost power agents; other 36 law enforcers were wounded.

Arsons committed by law enforcers of houses belonging to families suspected of having links with militants in Chechnya were recorded earlier. In particular, the fact that on July 4, 2009, armed men set fire to the house of the Yunusov family, whose 20-year-old daughter Madina married a militant charged of involvement in the Chechen armed underground, was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" by Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Grozny branch of the HRC "Memorial", who was later abducted and murdered.

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