17 September 2019, 16:31
Relatives report detention of relatives of murdered Grozny resident
Law enforcers demand from relatives and friends of the murdered Usman Aziev to confirm that he had prepared attacks on policemen, his relatives assert. The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has not confirmed the detention of Usman's relatives.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 9, in Grozny, GIBDD (traffic police) inspectors stopped a car. According to law enforcers, the driver, the 18-year-old Usman Aziev, fired a pistol shot at inspectors and was shot dead by return fire. According to MIA, he was wanted for hijacking a car and stealing firearms. Akhmed Dudaev, an assistant to the head of Chechnya, said that Aziev had planned an attack on law enforcers. This version has caused distrust among local residents.
After the incident, his father, other relatives and several Usman's friends were detained. Later, most of them were released, but three of them – his cousin and two of his close friends - are still kept by with the law enforcers, said Ruslan an Azievs' relative.
The casualty's body was not handed over to the family; and law enforcers forbade holding commemoration over him, said Khasan, another relative.
In December 2014, after a militants' attack on Grozny, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, said that militants' relatives would be expelled from the republic, and their houses – demolished.
Let us remind you that the practice of mass detention of acquaintances of an alleged militant is not unique for Chechnya and Northern Caucasus. According to Ruslan Kutaev, the head of the "Assembly of Caucasian Nations", this is a general working method of Russian law enforcers, since they possess technical means to establish the circle of persons with whom the suspect has communicated.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 17, 2019 at 11:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
