"Novaya Gazeta": Chechen woman detained for investigating "extrajudicial execution"

For more than a week, the fate of Aminat Avturkhanova, who was looking for her husband, whose name appeared on the lists of the people executed in Chechnya at night on January 26, 2017, is unknown, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reports today.

On January 8, Aminat Avturkhanova was taken away from her mother's house in the village of Verkhniy Naur in the Nadterechny District of Chechnya. At present, she is being kept in one of the ROVDs, but she has not been in touch with her relatives since she was detained. The status in which she is being kept at the ROVD (District Interior Division) is unclear.

The detention of the young woman has been reported to the office of the Russia's Ombudsperson, and Tatiana Moskalkova has already sent a letter to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) with a request about the fate of detained Aminat Avturkhanova, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports today.

Zelimkhan Djabaev, a husband of Aminat Avturkhanova, was on the list of the executed residents of Chechnya, available at the "Novaya Gazeta". In December 2016, the man was taken away right from his house. For several weeks, he was kept in the territory of one of the ROVDs, and his wife brought parcels for him. However, several weeks later he disappeared, and no attempts made by his wife to find out his fate produced any results.

After the investigating authorities launched the preliminary investigation to verify the information published by the "Novaya Gazeta" and Tatiana Moskalkova visited Chechnya, Aminat Avturkhanova, like many others, was summoned to the police and threatened with reprisals if she continued her investigation.

On September 6, 2017, the woman was detained at the police station for about 12 hours with her infant in her arms. Then, the threats began to come not only against Aminat Avturkhanova, but also against her parents, and on January 8, 2018, the woman was taken away by policemen.

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