11 May 2016, 20:50
"Medusa" journalist detained by police in Grozny
The information about the detention of Azar, a special correspondent of "Medusa", appeared in the website of this news agency. "Azar was detained between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. in the settlement of Kirov in the outskirt of Grozny, where he went to see the burned down houses of the terrorists, who had attacked a checkpoint in Grozny on May 9," says the message posted on the website.
Anton Naumlyuk, a correspondent of the "Radio Liberty", who spoke to Azar on the phone, said that some "power agents" (their ministerial belonging is unknown) arrived in the settlement to detain Azar; the official reason of detention is to identify his person.
Around 5:15 p.m. Azar got in touch and said that he was released. According to his story, power agents asked him whether Azar is a terrorist or a sympathizer, and whether he is a member of the "Islamic State" (IS) (an organization banned in Russia), the "Medusa" reports.
"Four hours have passed and I'm finally back at large!" Azar wrote in the Twitter.
"He wasn't detained, just brought to the police station for identification within the framework of the existing laws. Shortly after his documents were checked, he was released. It's a standard procedure," the TASS quotes the spokesman of the Chief Department for Chechnya of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
