Rights defenders complain to the ECtHR about poor inquiry of Estemirova's murder

Human rights activists have complained to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) about the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of their colleague, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Grozny Natalia Estemirova.

"A complaint to the Strasbourg Court was sent on September 9 jointly with the 'Memorial', the European Centre for Human Rights and Roman Karpinsky, the advocate for Estemirova's relatives," said Oleg Orlov, the head of the HRC "Memorial".

Mr Orlov said that the complaint states the "ineffectiveness of the investigation into Estemirova's murder," and that it is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

"We complain about non-admission of the victims to the case file. As a result, they cannot achieve an efficient investigation," the "Interfax" quotes Mr Orlov as saying.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has declared the murder solved. "There is a suspect, who has been put on the search list; therefore, the crime can now be considered solved," Alexei Vasilkov, Deputy Head of the GPO of the NCFD, said on September 8.

However, in the opinion of Oleg Orlov, "neither the Prosecutor's Office nor the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) have any reason to believe that Estemirova's killing is solved."