Picket was held in Chechnya with a demand to find kidnapped Chilaev

Today, from 2 to 3 p.m., the "Civil Assistance" committee and the "Memorial" human rights centre held a picket protesting against kidnapping of Bulat Chilaev, employee of the program of assistance to sick people of the "Civil Assistance" committee. The picket was held on the Akhmad-Khadji Kadyrov square in Grozny, the Chechen capital, demanding that the authorities should take active measures to release him and stop the practice of kidnapping people in Chechnya. Bulat Chilaev and Aslan Israilov, resident of Grozny, were captured and taken to an unknown destination by armed people on April 9 this year on the "Caucasus" federal highway at the Sernovodsk-Assinovskaya crossing in the Republic of Chechnya.

Svetlana Gannushkina, chairperson of the "Civil Assistance" committee, member of Council on facilitation of civil society development and human rights under the RF President, one of the organizers of the event who specially came from Moscow, has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent over the telephone from Grozny that about 40 people took part in the action. The picketers were holding 21 portraits of Bulat Chilaev and the following posters: "We demand investigation of every kidnapping!," "Stop kidnappings!," "Thousands of people have disappeared in Chechnya. Where are they?" and, "People in masks, who are they?"

According to Gannushkina, the law enforcement officers behaved "quite friendly" with regard to the demonstrators and made no objections. The action of protest was covered by journalists from "Interfax," "Associated Press ," "Groznensliye Novosti" newspaper, and by the "German Wave" radio station.

There was no written permission from the authorities to hold the action. "We informed the Grozny authorities about holding the picket, nobody prohibited it. Therefore, it is permitted," concludes Svetlana Gannushkina. From the very beginning she excluded the probability that picket would be disseminated because, after the action, several of its participants were expected to meet with Alu Alkhanov, Chechen President, at 4 p.m. and it was hard to imagine that anyone would resort to repressions with regard to them before such meeting.

"Since on the place of the kidnapping they have found the name badge of an officer of the "West" battalion under the of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the RF Ministry of Defence, under the command of Said-Magomet Kakiev, in all probability this unit is involved in the disappearance of our employee and his co-traveller, assumes Svetlana Gannushkina. We demand a true and serious investigation of the kidnapping, as required in case of any crime, rather than as it, alas, has been happening in Chechnya in recent years."

During the meeting with President Alkhanov, the human rights activists intend to discuss the problem of "disappearances" in Chechnya, the situation with the unknown mass disease, the so-called "pseudo-asthma," in the Shelkovsk district of the republic, the situation of refuges and the prospects for cooperation between human rights organizations and the authorities of Chechnya.

"According to our information, the "Zhiguli" car driven by Chilaev was stopped at the exit from the village of Sernovodsk by a group of armed people wearing camouflage and masks. There were both Russians and Chechens among the attackers. Without any explanations, they stormed Chilaev and Israilov, cruelly beat them, threw Israilov into the boot of their car and forced Chilaev into the back seat and drove them in the direction of Grozny. They also took away Chilaev's car," told an employee of the "Memorial" human rights centre to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Relatives of Bulat Chilaev and Aslan Israilov have applied virtually to all power authorities and state agencies of the republic but failed to learn anything about the fate of the kidnapped persons. Additionally, Svetlana Gannushkina, chairperson of the "Civil Assistance" committee, has contacted the management and the power authorities of the republic with a request to help find their employee, but also in vain. Virtually all power authorities deny their involvement in the kidnapping of Chilaev and Israilov. Neither their location, nor their fate are known," said the "Memorial" activist.