Editor of newspaper "Marsho" in Chechnya complains about pressure of power authorities

Representatives of power authorities in Chechnya have used threats to prohibit the editor of Urus-Martan district newspaper "Marsho" the printing of critical articles about the deceased patriarch Alexi II and South Ossetia president Eduard Kokoity. This has been relayed to the Human rights center "Memorial" by Said Khozhaliyev, the newspaper chief editor.

According to Khozhaliyev, on Tuesday August 4 he was invited by telephone to the Territorial department of the Russian Supervisory Committee in the Chechen Republic by Ismail Munayev, chief of the establishment. In the Munayev's office, apart from the latter, there were three more persons whom Munayev, giving no names or positions, introduced as an officer of the Russian FSS and officers of the ChR General Prosecution Office.

After this Khozhaliyev was informed that he had been invited for a discussion of a number of publications in the newspaper "Marsho", in particular, the July 17 article "On the Problem of Contract Laboring in Science" by Murat Nashkhoyev, senior scientific worker of the museum named after А.K. Kadyrov.

Khozhaliyev was told that his newspaper had not violated the law "On Mass Media" but there were things which must not be said or written in Chechnya.

Khozhaliyev asserts that they meant Chechen media must not critically write about the deceased patriarch Alexi II and South Ossetia president Kokoity, who were "unflatteringly" treated by Nashkhoyev in his article.

Then Khozhaliyev was informed that one of the coming days he was going to be summoned to some "section" where he would have to give written explanations, although of which character, he was not explained. However, according to the persons introduced as officers of the FSS, everything depended on the instructions from Moscow they were expecting to arrive.