Kadyrov demands criminal prosecution of "Novaya Gazeta" journalists

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov asks to initiate a criminal case against Dmitri Muratov, editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta", Vyacheslav Izmailov, its military observer, and several more journalists of the edition.

According to Andrei Krasnenkov, Mr Kadyrov's advocate, the pretext for going to court was the article "Execution in Vienna" about Kadyrov's possible involvement in the murder in Austria of Umar Israilov, a resident of Chechnya. In President's opinion, this and some other publications are slanderous in his relation.

Let us remind you that Israilov, who ran away from Chechnya and was granted political asylum in Austria, was killed on January 13, 2009. In February, the "Novaya Gazeta" published an article "Viennese Murder" saying that Umar Israilov and his relatives had spent several months in illegal prisons of Chechnya. The edition marked that members of Israilov's family had been tortured by high-ranking officials of the republic's administration, including Ramzan Kadyrov himself, as the "NEWSru.com" writes.

The author of that article, who was not named in the website, referred to the investigation of American journalist Christopher Chivers, who had published his results in The New York Times. The Russian edition wrote that his conclusions were supported by documents - complaints to the State Office of Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation and Strasbourg Court, medical examinations, reports of human rights organizations and European diplomats and other evidences.

Other western media wrote, in connection with Israilov's murder, that he was an especially compromising witness. According to the press, he had spent three months in the secret prison in Tsentoroy; then, he was recruited by force into Kadyrov's securities. Israilov had heard Kadyrov giving orders to kill people; he was present at tortures and executions, as the French Le Monde wrote.

So far, the "Novaya Gazeta" has received no official claims. "We have no documentary confirmations of Kadyrov's words. No investigatory actions concerning the edition were undertaken," Nadezhda Prusenkova, head of the press service of the "Novaya Gazeta", told the Radio Liberty".