Case on massacres in Novye Aldy Chechen settlement returned to investigator

For more than 22 years, law enforcement bodies cannot establish who killed about 60 local residents.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 5, 2000, according to eyewitnesses, special police units entered the dwelling settlement of Novye Aldy; and within a few hours, over 50 people fell victim to extrajudicial executions. A one-year-old baby, nine women and 11 old men were among the casualties.

Earlier, an investigator from the Investigating Department for Chechnya of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) refused to initiate a case on the massacres. The refusal was challenged by local residents. Abulkhasan Khaidaev and Aiset Musostova.

The Staropromyslovsky District Court of Grozny dismissed the complaint; however, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya cancelled this dismissal, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project has reported.

The SC has noted that in February 2000, the massacre perpetrators openly stole local residents' property and set fire to their houses.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on July 26, 2007, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) made its decision on the case "Musaev et al versus Russia", in which it concluded that the responsibility for the murders of 11 applicants' relatives in Novye Aldy is on Russia's law enforcement bodies and authorities. The ECtHR also condemned Russian authorities for the absence of an efficient inquiry into these people's deaths.