Arthur Ezhiev, human rights activist kidnapped in Chechnya, released

Arthur (Yakub) Ezhiev, activist of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, kidnapped on March 15 from his house in the village of Serzhen-Yurt, Shali District of Chechnya by officers of Chechen power authorities, has been released today, reports Zharada Kharipova, the wife of Arthur's uncle Imran Ezhiev, citing their relatives in Chechnya, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by telephone from Germany. According to her, no circumstances of his release are known, so far.

As the "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier, yesterday, March 20, Madina Ezhieva, Arthur's wife, filed a complaint to the Chechen Prosecutor's office in which she detailed the circumstances of her husband's kidnapping.

Earlier the Russian-Chechen information agency reported that Arthur Ezhiev was held on the territory of the military commandant's office (the so-called commandant's office No 8) in the town of Argun by Magomed Israpilov, commander of commandant's office company. He relayed a request to the relatives, through an intermediary, to hand him over a Stechkin pistol in return to the release of Arthur. The commandant's office is located in the same yard with the town prosecutor's office and the town department of internal affairs.

Arthur Ezhiev, volunteer of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, was kidnapped on March 15 around 7 p.m. by a group of officers from Chechen power authorities who drove a "Zhiguli", 9th model and an "UAZ." The kidnappers who are ethnic Chechens wore no masks. They entered the yard, called Arthur Ezhiev's name and, threatening him with arms, forced him to follow them. They ordered Askhab Amayev, Arthur's friend who was in the yard, to stay behind and not to leave the yard.

The incident of kidnapping was reported by Imran Ezhiev, the missed person's uncle and chairman of the regional Chechen-Ingush branch of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. Ezhiev thinks that Toma Israpilov, head of the administration of the Benoy village, Vedeno District of Chechnya, may be implicated in the kidnapping. According to Ezhiev, Arthur may have been kidnapped in order to intimidate Arthur and Imran Ezhievs and make them stop public investigation of the facts of abuse in the course of restoring houses destroyed in Benoy during combat action.

In August 2005, Arthur and Imran Ezhievs, upon the request of residents of Vedeno District in Chechnya, were making video films of houses in the village in order to demonstrate the fictitious nature of the report in conformance with which 327 houses in the village are subject to restoration. The report had been compiled by the Benoy head of administration. According to Imran Ezhiev, there are hardly a hundred houses in the village. Thus, there are reasons to believe that the money allocated for the restoration of the rest of houses, which do not exist, is going to be stolen and the expenditure substantiated by fictitious reports. Some time after his visit of Benoy Arthur (he operated the video camera in Benoy) started to receive threats from representatives of the local power authorities.