Kabardino-Balkarian authorities ignore activists’ appeals in defence of scientists

Authors of the appeal in defence of the scientists of the Institute for Humanitarian Research sent it to the leader and the government of Kabardino-Balkaria, the republic’s Investigating Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) and the prosecutor’s office, but received no response from all the above-mentioned institutions. Complaints about pressure from the law enforcement bodies have been also ignored, the activists note. The police invite the activists, who signed the appeal, for questioning, which the lawyers consider unlawful.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the human rights defenders and activists who spoke out in support of the Institute for Humanitarian Research are being called by the police and requested explanations concerning the alleged spread of slander. That has been reported by the human rights defenders from the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Human Rights Centre, who demanded to protect local activists from pressure of the law enforcement bodies. Activist Azamat Shormanov was one of the persons who signed the appeal to the leader of the republic. On December 14, the activist reported that the police invited him to a police station in order to give an explanation. When Azamat Shormanov refused, a policeman said that he would be “forced to come with a summon.” Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Human Rights Centre, requested the republic’s prosecutor to protect the activists from pressure of the law enforcement bodies.

The prosecutor’s office has not yet responded to a complaint about pressure from employees of the Centre for Combating Extremism (known as Centre “E”) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), reports Azamat Shormanov.

The repeated invitation to the police of Azamat Shormanov is a continuation of an attempt to put pressure on activists, suggests Zaur Shokuev, a lawyer of the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Human Rights Centre. He emphasizes that persecution of the activists who signed the appeal contradicts the law.

“The law prohibits persecution of citizens who appeal to the authorities. This is the constitutional right of citizens,” emphasized the lawyer.

Historian Zaurbek Kozhev, who signed the appeal to the leader of Kabardino-Balkaria, was also invited to come to investigators.

The police may call citizens for a conversation, but citizens, in turn, may refuse, emphasizes lawyer Galina Tarasova.