Rights defenders demand to take Oyub Titiev's case from Chechen law enforcers

The case against Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny and the cases of arson and threats to rights defenders in Ingushetia and Dagestan should not be investigated in Northern Caucasus because of the interest of the Chechen law enforcement bodies. This opinion was voiced by members of the Russian Human Rights Council, journalists, and cultural figures.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Oyub Titiev, the head of the representative office in Grozny of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Chechnya, was arrested on January 11 for two months on charges of possessing marijuana. Titiev pleads not guilty and says that the drug was planted on him by a law enforcer.

In an appeal sent to Yuri Chaika, General Prosecutor for the Russian Federation, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Minister of Internal Affairs (MIA), and Alexander Bastrykin, the chief of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), members of the Russian Human Rights Council requested to change the investigative jurisdiction for the criminal case against Oyub Titiev, as well as the cases of arson of the HRC "Memorial" office in Ingushetia and the arson of the HRC "Memorial" car in Dagestan.

"There is every reason to assert that the case against Oyub Titiev was fabricated, and all the events listed are interrelated and have one source," states the appeal published on the HRC's website on February 1.

The cases associated with the HRC "Memorial" should be investigated by the Investigating Department at the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), and the General Prosecutor's Office is to take control over the progress of the investigation into those cases. Any objective investigation into the Oyub Titiev's case, currently conducted by the law enforcement bodies for the Kurchaloi District, is impossible in Chechnya due to the fact that the law enforcement bodies are completely under the control of the local authorities, the rights defenders have pointed out.

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