Nakhushev's sister in Kabardino-Balkaria is indignant with the fact that her brother is in the list of militants

The today's issue of the newspaper "Kabardino-Balkarskaya Pravda" carries an article titled "Wanted!" with photographs of 24 individuals listed as wanted on the suspicion of taking part in the attack on Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, last October. Among them is a photograph of Ruslan Nakhushev, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies in Nalchik, lost on October 3 last year and not found yet.

In the course of a telephone conversation, Ruslan's sister Fatima Nakhusheva, assistant professor of the KBSU, said that she was "extremely indignant with the fact that Ruslan is in the list of militants."

"The whole day people who know Ruslan have been approaching me and asking in perplexity what this can mean. I think that attempts to put Ruslan into the list of militants are being made in order to lift the responsibility from those who contributed to his kidnapping."

For reference, Ruslan Nakhushev was lost after an interrogation at the FSS department which he had exited but never reached his office.

After the October 13 events of last year in Nalchik, a criminal case was initiated against Ruslan Nakhushev under the article on "terrorism" and "instigation of terrorism." The case was initiated on the ground of an article published in the newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" which, in the opinion of lawyer Anuar Dikinov who represents the interests of Ruslan Nakhushev, does not contain any material fact testifying to the involvement of Ruslan Nakhushev in any unlawful activity.

After the kidnapping of Ruslan Nakhushev, a second article was published in the " Rossiyskaya Gazeta," titled "The Satan's Advocates ," which asserted that Ruslan Nakhushev, by defending in court the interests of Anzor Astemirov and Musa Mukozhev charged with an attempt to assist Khattab and Basaev, had helped them to evade the responsibility. And yet, it is public knowledge that the criminal case in question went to pieces in court because there was not enough evidence.

The public in Kabardino-Balkaria very sensitively responds to everything related to kidnapping of Ruslan Nakhushev and considers this fact a blatant violation of human rights. "We live in a fool's country, a bandit's country. No person in the Russian Federation enjoys legal protection. Should Ruslan Nakhushev be guilty of anything it should have been proved in court. Kidnapping of a person and making his relatives suffer for eight months, not knowing whether he is alive or dead - no regime, even the cruelest one, could allow this kind of execution," stated lawyer Anuar Dikinov in an interview.