HRC "Memorial" treats Isakova's reports as an attempt to discredit rights defenders

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" found the statements by Lizan Isakova, a resident of Grozny, made on air of the Chechen TV that human rights defenders were involved in a fraud with the status of a disabled person, as "absurd." The woman's disability was defined and documented by officials, the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, has reminded.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the 47-year-old Isakova had appealed to the HRC "Memorial" about the absence of help from the authorities. She said that she had been paralyzed and lost her sight, but the authorities refused to relocate her from the emergency house. On July 3, Isakova and her son were arrested within the case of a fraud with disability status.

"A representative of the HRC 'Memorial', knowing that I was not visually impaired and not bedridden, asked me to pretend in order to demand what was needed from the authorities," Isakova said in a television report. Her son confirmed this version.

Then, Isakova called on TV viewers not to appeal to rights defenders and to the HRC "Memorial", as they "tell lies and mislead people."

The TV report also showed Isakova's ex-husband, her neighbours, and her brother and sister. In their turn, they condemned Isakova and her son.

Galina Tarasova, a lawyer of the HRC "Memorial", believes that Isakova and her relatives moved accusations against the HRC under pressure. She treats Isakova's accusations against rights defenders as absurd.

According to the lawyer, the Isakova's story is a part of the "squeeze-out campaign" of human rights defenders from Chechnya.

The blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, has called the report about Isakova a fake. He has recalled that Isakova had received her disability certificate from the Ministry of Public Health of Chechnya, and suggested that the purpose of the television report was to blacken the HRC "Memorial".