"Memorial" is ready to sue Kadyrov for statements about Estemirova

The statements of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov about the work in the republic of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", made by him in his interview to the newspaper "Zavtra" (Tomorrow), can entail a suit against him, Oleg Orlov, the leader of the HRC, believes.

This is the way he has commented Kadyrov's utterances, in particular, that Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the "Memorial", who was murdered on July 15, fabricated exposing materials in order to destabilize the situation in the region.

In his interview to the paper Mr Kadyrov said that Estemirova "was only engaged in conversations instead of solving the problems that the commission had faced." When accused of inability to work, according to Kadyrov, Estemirova "got hardened" and began writing under pseudonyms "various articles with fables." He has also labelled the "Memorial" as an organization created to undermine Russia.

"We answer for all the data we give, say and publish; and we're ready to prove our rightness. Everything that Kadyrov said is on his conscience," Oleg Orlov, head of the "Memorial", said to the "Interfax".

"What Kadyrov said has nothing to do with reality. His words are another convincing evidence of how difficult is the work of independent human rights organizations in the territory of the Chechen Republic," he has added.