Court leaves Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev under arrest

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has rejected the complaint against the extension of the arrest of Oyub Titiev, the head of the office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Grozny.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 25, the lower-instance court extended Titiev's arrest on charges of possessing drugs until June 9.

The defence asked the SC to release Oyub Titiev under personal guarantees of Svetlana Gannushkina, a rights defender, and Sergey Nefyodov, a cosmonaut, who stated that they know Titiev as a believing Muslim, who would never deal with drugs, a sportsman and a very decent person.

In their turn, the investigator and the prosecutor asked the SC to leave Titiev in custody, and the court has taken their side.