NGOs plan to independently investigate Estemirova's murder

An independent public commission is now set up in Russia for investigating the circumstances of the death of the well-known Chechen human rights defender, employee of the HRC "Memorial" Natalia Estemirova.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that the commission will include representatives of public organizations of the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia and Moscow. They will work under the aegis of the Moscow Helsinki Group.

"On decision of a number of Chechen NGOs, whose leaders not only personally knew Natasha Estemirova, but also were her close friends, an independent public commission was set up to investigate into the circumstances of her death," Taisa Isaeva, a representative of the public organization named "Union of NGOs", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The overall objective of the commission is to gather comprehensive information about Estemirova's human rights activities, study all the circumstances of her kidnapping and subsequent murder, with further disclosure of all the collected facts and evidences to broad public. "Also, the members of the independent public commission will trace the course of the official investigation of this case," Ms Isaeva has noted.

Besides, according to Taisa Isaeva, activists of Chechen NGOs sent a letter to President Ramzan Kadyrov, asking him to give Natalia Estemirova's name to the Mayakovskogo Street in Grozny, where the Grozny-based office of the HRC "Memorial" is situated and where the assassinated woman had worked during the latest decade.

They also plan to hold a wide-scale action in memory of Natalia Estemirova on August 15 in Grozny.