Experts associate attack on Kalyapin with earlier attack on journalists

The experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe that the attack on Igor Kalyapin in Grozny is a direct consequence of the impunity for the attack on rights defenders and journalists in Ingushetia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the attack on Igor Kalyapin, the head of the "Committee for the Prevention of Torture" (CPT) has been committed this evening near the "Grozny City" hotel.

Alexander Cherkasov, the Chairman of the Council of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has linked the attack on journalists on March 9 with the attack on Kalyapin. "It's the same signal that lasts from the attacks in Ingushetia. It is unlikely that the today's attack and the attack on March 9 have different authorship," Mr Cherkasov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Varvara Pakhomenko, a researcher of the International Crisis Group (ICG), the attack committed in Grozny "is a signal to Igor Kalyapin that he has no place in Chechnya."

This viewpoint is shared by Elena Milashina, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta". "This is a signal to Kalyapin, whom Kadyrov treats as a personal enemy. The logic is as follows: if a person was told that in Chechnya there is no place for him, and they made it clear that the persona is non grata, he and his staff will be persecuted, until they completely get rid of them," Ms Milashina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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