Chechen Prosecutor's Office resumes investigation into murder of pregnant woman committed 14 years ago

The Chechen Prosecutor's Office has demanded from the investigating authorities to reopen the investigation into the criminal case on the fact of the murder of Aizan Amirova, a resident of Grozny, committed in 2000. Local residents claim that the crime was committed by soldiers of federal forces, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"The body of Aizan Amirova, who disappeared in Grozny in January 2000, was found in May 2000 in a basement of a private house located in the Staropromyslovsky District of Grozny. Investigator instituted a criminal case on the fact of murder; however, the investigation was stopped at the preliminary stage," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by an official from the Chechen Prosecutor's Office.

"According to the husband of the murdered woman, investigators from the Prosecutor's Office conducted a purely formal investigation into the case. When he asked them to examine the place when the body of his wife had been found, he was asked to provide investigators with body guards. That was in 2000, when the city of Grozny was flooded with military checkpoints," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by one of the former staff members of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

According to the source, the husband of the murdered woman appealed to all possible institutions, seeking an investigation into the murder of his wife; however, he did not succeeded in his attempts. "He was threatened, and he was even once severely beaten by soldiers who broke into his house," the public activist has stated.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.