Human rights newspaper "Objective" launched in Chechnya

The newspaper under the title "Objective" appeared in Chechnya. Kheda Saratova, the editor-in-chief and the public activist, hopes that the newspaper will be independent and become a tribune for people in Chechnya, from which they could appeal to the authorities for help. According to local experts, the release of the new medium with human rights orientation implies a tough stance on human rights protection.

The newspaper "Objective" was established by the human rights defender Kheda Saratova, the member of the expert council under the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, the head of the information-analytical centre "Objective". According to her, the newspaper will present information about the events in Chechnya and also in other regions of the North Caucasus. It is also planned to publish materials of independent journalists. Circulation of the newspaper is 999 copies. The four-page newspaper is expected to come out monthly.

"Many analysts and journalists from Chechnya and from Moscow told me that I would not be allowed to establish a newspaper. To be honest, I kept thinking - I will be stopped now, and someone will come to me to stop me. But I had met no barriers along my way! Despite all this, when I received the first copies of the newspaper, I sighed with relief. Still, we did it. And nobody in Chechnya will kill me for this newspaper," Kheda Saratova believes.

Law enforcement agencies also had no claims to the journalist. "I personally brought copies of the newspaper to the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), where I went on the problem of a guy disappearance, and I put a pack of the newspaper copies. And, by the way, the newspaper contained an article "When arbitrariness of power agents in the region will be to stopped"," Kheda Saratova says.

She plans to devote part of the newspaper to the problem of disappearances and kidnappings of people in Chechnya. "Many people say that there is no kidnapping in Chechnya; however, unfortunately, these moments are present. That's just four months ago, a man was kidnapped directly from his working place. His relatives still visit authorities," Kheda Saratova said, without mentioning the name of the kidnapped man, and continued: "I believe the coverage of these events will help our leaders to avoid the problem moments."