10:35, 30 November 2018

Law enforcers' refusal to investigate extrajudicial executions in Chechnya challenged

The Russian Investigative Committee. Photo from the official website of the Russian Investigative Committee https://sledcom.ru/news/item/1098903/

In the Stavropol Territory, the court has scheduled for November 30 the consideration of a lawsuit of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" against investigators who refused to institute a criminal case on extrajudicial execution of 27 residents of Chechnya.

The Caucasian Knot has reported that in July 2017, the "Novaya Gazeta" published the names of 27 people detained in December 2016 and January 2017. According to the newspaper, all of them were executed without trial at night on January 26, 2017. On August 31, 2018, 15 OSCE countries demanded that Russia submit a report on human rights violations in Chechnya.

The complaint will be considered by the Yessentuki City Court. The interests of employees of the edition and relatives of the disappeared residents of Chechnya are represented by advocates working in agreement with the "Legal Initiative" project and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The complaint alleges that the check was conducted incompletely and with gross violations.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 29, 2018 at 07:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.