22:50, 6 December 2017

Moskalkova: European delegation found no evidence of executions in Chechnya

Grozny. Photo by Magomed Magomedov for the Caucasian Knot.

The members of the European Committee against Torture (ECAT), who inspected prisons in Chechnya, found no evidence of extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions, said Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Ombudsperson.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April the "Novaya Gazeta" wrote about detentions and murders of Chechen residents, suspected of homosexuality. The locals, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", said that they had known about massacres of gays for a long time.

The members of the ECAT delegation arrived in Chechnya with a mandate to visit any jails and detention facilities, including illegal ones, the "Novaya Gazeta" reported on December 5. According to the newspaper, the delegation received information from rights defenders about detainees and places of their illegal custody.

"They found no evidence of extrajudicial killings," Tatiana Moskalkova stated today, noting that she personally met the deputy chair of the ECPT, after which the delegation visited all the police stations, where, according to mass media, people illegally detained were kept, the "Interfax" reported.

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