Defence witness questioned on Orlov's case

Today, the trial of Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", in connection with his statements about responsibility of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov for the murder of Natalia Estemirova. The court heard evidences of Grigory Shvedov, editor-in-chief of the Internet medium named "Caucasian Knot".

At the start of the session, the judge asked the parties whether they would challenge her. The parties said "no"; then, the floor was given to Orlov's advocate Genry Reznik. He asked to interrogate Igor Kalyapin, head of the Committee Against Torture, as a witness. Mr Reznik said that Kalyapin can explain the circumstances that gave rise to Orlov's statements.

The next speaker as a witness was Grigory Shvedov, editor-in-chief of the Internet outlet "Caucasian Knot". He said that he frequently went to the Caucasus on business; he knew the deceased human rights defender Natalia Estemirova and met her dozens of times in Chechnya, Moscow and abroad.

"Her work," said Grigory Shvedov, "was different and special even compared with her colleagues in Chechnya. She was the only person from Chechnya who wrote for us and put her real surname, not a pseudonym. She was oriented towards cooperation and constructive help to people, rather than rapid coverage of certain facts."

The witness explained that in his opinion Chechnya sees mass violations of the human right to life: people, accused of involvement in warfare, are killed before any hearings and procedural actions aimed to establish their actual guilt.

"Regarding the fact that Kadyrov had made the work of rights defenders in his republic impossible, it's true, I agree with the defendant. Human rights activists are killed, harassed, and criminally and judicially persecuted also in other regions of the Caucasus. But in Chechnya people are also afraid of telling about violations of human rights in respect of their close relatives: these stories can cost them life," said the witness.

Mr Shvedov noted that before Ramzan Kadyrov's advent to power human rights activists had not feared for themselves and their relatives because of their professional activities.

"I know that shortly before her death Natalia left the country and took her daughter away just because she felt fear for their lives," said the witness.

A couple of days before her murder Natalia Estemirova gave an interview to the "Caucasian Knot" about the public execution of the earlier kidnapped resident of Chechnya Rizvan Albekov committed in the village of Akhkinchu-Borzoi.

The witness linked the coverage of that execution with the murder of the human rights activist. "It's possible," he believed, "that Albekov's killers were involved in abduction and murder of Estemirova. The situation in Chechnya is such that not only rights defenders but also federal agencies are not able to investigate into resonant killings in Chechnya."