Kadyrov's lawyer asks to sue rights defenders from HRC "Memorial" and judges

Lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov, who represents interests of Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has filed complaints to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) asking to institute criminal cases against the judges, who considered the civil lawsuit against the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", and against human rights defenders from the HRC "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2010, Andrei Krasnenkov filed a civil lawsuit against the HRC "Memorial" on the occasion of the article "Representative of Ramzan Kadyrov misleads journalists" that was posted on the website of the HRC "Memorial" on September 30, 2010, and that, according to the plaintiff, contained "calumny". On July 4, 2012, the Tver District Court of Moscow dismissed the lawsuit.

In his complaint to the ICRF to institute criminal cases, Andrei Krasnenkov asks the investigating department of the Tver District of Moscow to bring to responsibility Judge Tatiana Fedosova for the pronouncement of a knowingly unjust decision and Oleg Orlov, ex-Chairman of the HRC "Memorial", for forgery and falsification.

Besides, Andrei Krasnenkov asks the Preobrazhensky Interdistrict Investigating Division to bring to responsibility a number of persons for the pronouncement of knowingly unjust decisions, the "RAPSI" (Russian Agency of Legal and Judicial Information) reports.

The criminal case was also instituted against Oleg Orlov, ex-Chairman of the HRC "Memorial", for slandering the leader of Chechnya. The reason was the statements made by Oleg Orlov. He has said that Ramzan Kadyrov is responsible for the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Chechen Branch of the HRC "Memorial". On January 20, 2012, the criminal case against Oleg Orlov was closed after the law on libel had been decriminalized.