16:15, 31 March 2004

Mass meeting in Grozny

Over 200 residents of Chechnya are staging a meeting at the complex of government buildings in the Staropromislovsky district of Grozny today, March 31. People came from different districts and towns of the republic. They demand that the authorities should find their relatives and friends abducted by "security officers" recently and should put an end to the arbitrariness of officers of both Russian and local security structures. Most of the protesters are women.

"In spite of the assurances given by Russian and local authorities, the situation in Chechnya has not become more peaceful," Zareta, a 43-year-old resident of Grozny, says. "People are murdered, abducted, and tortured every day here. We want to know where our brothers, fathers, and husbands taken by the military are. What are they taken for? Where are they now? If a man is guilty, let he undergo trial. We don't mind. But let it be open and in conformity with the law. We have the only demand to the authorities to stop genocide, to stop extrajudicial punishments and torture."

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent

Source: Caucasian Knot