Kalyapin: journalists refuse to go to Chechnya to press conference

Igor Kalyapin intends to hold a press conference in Grozny dedicated to the attack on journalists and rights defenders, committed activists on the Ingush-Chechen border. However, the event is under question, since journalists refuse to go to Chechnya from Moscow.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 9, in Ingushetia, not far from the administrative border with Chechnya, a group of unidentified attackers beat eight rights defenders, journalists, and a driver of a minivan of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) on their way to Grozny. Their minivan was burned out. As a result of the incident, four persons, including journalists from Norway and Sweden, were brought to the Sunzha District Hospital. On March 11, three of them, including Øystein Windstad, were discharged from the hospital.

On March 11, Igor Kalyapin posted a record on his Facebook page that in the near future he was going to hold a press conference and explain why he blamed the Chechen authorities for the attack on his colleagues. On March 12, Kalyapin wrote that he had decided to hold the press conference in Grozny, provided that the law enforcement bodies of the ChechenRepublic guaranteed the safety of journalists, whom he would invite to the event.

The journalists from Central Russia and Moscow, invited to the press conference in Grozny, refused to go to Chechnya; therefore, the very fact of the event is questionable, Igor Kalyapin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today.

"The press conference is on the verge of collapse, because of the refusal of media people to go to Chechnya," said Igor Kalyapin, adding that the refusal is caused by the fear of his colleagues after the attacks on journalists and rights defenders on March 9 in Ingushetia.

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