Chechen writer Arslan Khasavov underwent an attempt in Moscow

A young writer who had not long before submitted an anti-defamation lawsuit against Khozhbaudi Borkhajiev, Chairman of the Journalist League of Chechnya, was beaten up in the center of Moscow. He was taken to oral surgery unit of the municipal hospital No 36 with grave traumas.

Khasavov's hospital doctor told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" that the patient's zygomatic bone was broken with a shifting at the right side, his eyebulb was contused, he had a haematoma of periorbital sphere (the area round an eye) and a cerebral contusion. The patient will need a surgical procedure for jaw reposition. Total rehabilitation with traumas like this generally takes from six months to one year.

Arslan Khasavov is planning to receive a grant after leaving hospital and go abroad. "I am going to leave Russia not out of fear of new assaults but just because I am deeply disappointed, - the young writer said to a reporter of "Caucasian Knot". - I want to go to some place where I could quietly live and do my creative work".

Dagir Khasavov, Arslan's father, states that he knows the attacker's and his paymaster's names. "Natives of Chechnya, from the settlement of Braguna, who were evidently dissatisfied with the voluntary settlement signed in the court of Gudermes had come here", the attorney said.

"We finished with this sore point, - he continued. - Arslan said he was stopping any kind of discussions, starting a new life and apologizing to those whom he had offended, whether intentionally or not. But even that was not enough for those people".

One of Arslan's acquaintances working at the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia called the young man and asked for an appointment in order to close the "sore" question connected with the young writer's publication in a newspaper.

The appointment was made in a cafe in Tverskaya street. Arslan was the first to come and was waiting for his acquaintance. A young man of a heavy build approached him and asked Khasavov to come out with him "to talk in a masculine way", Arslan's father said.

"When Arslan bent forward to his car to leave his documents in it, the man struck him in his head from behind", Dagir Khasavov continues.

After beating Arslan lost consciousness and the attacker escaped. According to Dagir Khasavov, the incident happened in front of the very eyes of the security guards of "Pyramid" cafe and was put on the videotapes.

The guards brought the injured man inside the cafe, helped him to get over and called the ambulance. So, according to Dagir Khasavov, Arslan had no appointment with its originator.

The young man's father submitted a statement on the fact of the assault at Arslan Khasavov to "Tverskoye" militia department. The attorney told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" he was going to carry out his own investigation. "I will do all I can about it. If legal sanctions are not enough I reserve the right to solve the question according to our adats", he emphasized.

It should be reminded that Arslan Khasavov submitted an anti-defamation lawsuit after an article by Khozhbaudi Borkhajiev, Chairman of the Journalist League of Chechnya, "It is already morning" was published. It was a response to the writer's short story "It is not morning yet" which Borkhajiev took for a political essay on the modern situation in Chechen Republic.

"Caucasian Knot" has formerly reported that the trial on Khasavov's lawsuit against Borkhajiev was held in Gudermes on February, 24. The parties signed a voluntary settlement.