CE demands from Russia to investigate arson of "Memorial" office

Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CE), has called on the Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the arson in the Nazran office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 17, a fire broke out in the office of the HRC "Memorial" in Nazran. According to records from a video surveillance camera, the office was set on fire by two unidentified people. The rights defenders treated the attack on the office as a terror act.

"The arson attack this night on the Ingushetia office of 'Memorial', a leading Russian rights group, is very alarming," announced Thorbjørn Jagland as quoted in a release published on the CE's website on January 17.

"We expect that the necessary steps will be undertaken to guarantee that the commitments taken by the Russian Federation under the European Convention on Human Rights are fully respected," he said.

Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, has announced his intention to urgently discuss the incident with the Russian authorities.

"I firmly condemn the arson of the 'Memorial' office in Nazran," wrote Nils Muižnieks in his Twitter on January 17.

He has noted that earlier, in Northern Caucasus, Oyub Titiev, the leader of the Chechen office of the HRC "Memorial", had been accused of possession of drugs and after that his advocate claimed being watched.

"This succession of events illustrates the threatening climate in which human rights defenders work in Northern Caucasus," the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights noted.

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