Participants of the action in support of Arakcheev and Khudyakov appeal to Dmitri Medvedev for help

On January 10, at 4:00-4:35 p.m., at the building of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in the centre of Moscow an action was held in defence of Sergey Arakcheev and Evgeniy Khudyakov, officers of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, sentenced on December 27, 2007, to 15 and 17 years of deprivation of freedom for murdering peaceful residents of Chechnya. About 40 persons took part in the action.

The action consisted of gathering signatures under similar printed applications to the address of Dmitri Medvedev, First Deputy Premier of the government of the Russian Federation, as to the candidate for President of Russia, "who has serious chances to win the forthcoming election, and, as a consequence, to become the Supreme Commander-in-Chief." Pyotr Miloserdov, one of the organizers of the action and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National-Democratic Movement "People", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they managed to gather about 80 signatures.

The compilers of the application have specified in the text that they expect the potential head of the state to include into his electoral programme "the promise to release the illegally convicted officers and investigation of the wrongful investigation and trial."

It is necessary to notice that only lieutenant Arakcheev is presently in custody. The whereabouts of senior lieutenant Khudyakov, who was tried in absentia, are unknown.