Chechen MIA promises Tatiana Moskalkova to protect relatives of disappeared persons

Relatives of the people disappeared in Chechnya, whose names appeared in the "execution list," were taken under state protection. This has been reported today by the Russia's Ombudsperson with reference to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 20, the authorities brought to Grozny and presented Russia's Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova two persons whose names allegedly appeared in the "execution list" released by the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". On October 3, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reported that in fact, law enforcers brought to the Russia's Ombudsperson not the disappeared persons, but their brothers.

Tatiana Moskalkova has promised to check the information about the substitution through additional requests to the law enforcement agencies of Chechnya. The Russia's Ombudsperson has also noted she is aware of the intimidation by law enforcers of the republic's residents, in particular, relatives of the disappeared persons, before her visit to Chechnya.

The law enforcement agencies have taken protection of relatives of the people disappeared in Chechnya. According to Russia's Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova, the authorities of Chechnya reported the above to her after additional requests.

"I have made an official statements to the Minister of Internal Affairs for the Chechen Republic and to the administration of the republic about the inadmissibility of such pressure on people, and I has got the information that those people were taken under protection by the law enforcement agencies," the TASS quoted Tatiana Moskalkova as reporting.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.