Prosecutor's Office cancels refusal to open case against "Novaya Gazeta"

The Prosecutor's Office of Moscow has cancelled the decision to refuse to initiate on demand of the President of Chechnya a criminal case against journalists of "Novaya Gazeta", who stated in their articles Ramzan Kadyrov's violations of human rights. Earlier, the Inquiry Department refused the initiate a case against "Novaya Gazeta".

According to Kadyrov's lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov, he received the cancellation decision from the Prosecutor's Office of Moscow saying that the rejection to open the case had been "premature and unreasonable", therefore it was cancelled, and the materials were returned to the Moscow GUVD (City Interior Department) "for additional check and elimination of revealed violations."

The "Gazeta.Ru" writes that the criminal case against the editor-in-chief of "Novaya Gazeta" Dmitri Muratov and three observers of the paper - Vyacheslav Izmailov, Irina Gordienko and Elena Milashina - under the article of "slander" can be initiated till the end of January.

The pretext for litigation was in Kadyrov's claims to six paper articles, which he found discrediting and false. The claimant demands that "Novaya Gazeta" places a refutation of the materials and pays compensation of 865,600 roubles (one rouble per paper copy) and 100,000 roubles - from the author of four publications.

According to Nadezhda Prusenkova, head of the press-service of "Novaya Gazeta", the paper texts on Chechnya could quite well contain facts, which Ramzan Kadyrov could dislike. "But it still means nothing," she said.