Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev left under arrest until July 9
The court in Grozny has upheld investigators' arguments and rejected the statements of the defence of Oyub Titiev, the head of Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".
The advocates asked to release Titiev from custody, saying that there were no grounds to arrest him.
Oyub Titiev is under arrest since January 11 on charges of possessing marijuana. He claims that the drug was planted on him by a law enforcer. Titiev's case is another link in the chain of actions aimed at "squeezing out" rights defenders from Chechnya and neighbouring regions, Oleg Orlov, a member of the board of the HRC "Memorial", believes.
The judge has stated that the term in custody requested for Titiev is justified, while the application of any softer measures is impossible.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.