Court upholds investigators' refusal to investigate Kadyrov's statements

The Moscow City Court (MCC) has upheld the refusal of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to check the legality of the statements of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov about demolition of houses owned by militants' relatives and eviction of them out of the republic.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 5, 2014, Ramzan Kadyrov held a meeting, during which he stated that militants' relatives would be expelled from the republic, and their houses would be demolished. On December 9, 2014, head of the Committee against Torture Igor Kalyapin lodged requests to the heads of the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) and the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) demanding to examine these Kadyrov's statements. Igor Kalyapin had regarded that Kadyrov's words violated the presumption of innocence; and the measures declared by Kadyrov would break the law and violate citizens' rights.

In the context of the above statements, the ICRF was also addressed by Elena Milashina, a journalist of the Novaya Gazeta. However, the ICRF has revealed no information about the circumstances "pointing to a crime attributes" in Kadyrov's words.

Milashina decided to appeal against the refusal in court, but the Basmanny District Court of Moscow found the actions of the investigators, who had refused to accept and register her application, legitimate. Ilnur Sharapov, Elena's advocate, sent the complaint against the decision of the Basmanny District Court to the MCC.

In his comment on the today's decision by the MCC, Ilnur Sharapov announced his intention to "continue the litigation at higher judicial instances."

"Perhaps, we'll appeal to the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court of Russia with a request for legal justification for the refusal to accept the application," Ilnur Sharapov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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