A HRC "Memorial" car set on fire in Makhachkala

In Makhachkala, unidentified people set fire to a car of the Dagestani office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial". The car was used by a HRC's advocate for travelling to Chechnya. This was reported by Oleg Orlov, a member of the board for the HRC "Memorial".

On January 22, a driver of the HRC "Memorial" parked the car near his house, and a neighbour told him that the car was on fire, Oleg Orlov reported. According to him, the driver and the fire-fighters quickly extinguished the fire. A tank with an incendiary mixture was found near the car.

Oleg Orlov has associated the arson with the persecution of the HRC "Memorial" in Chechnya. The rights defender reported that on January 20, a Dagestani advocate used the car to travel to the Chechen village of Kurchaloi. The advocate was involved in the investigation into the case against Oyub Titiev, the leader of the Grozny HRC's office, who was arrested for possession of drugs, the "Mediazona" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 11, Oyub Titiev was arrested on the charge of marijuana possession. The activist claimed the drugs had been planted to him. According to the rights defenders, the criminal proceedings against Oyub Titiev are aimed at making the HRC "Memorial" stop its activities in Chechnya. At night on January 17, a fire broke out in the HRC's office in Nazran. PCs and furniture were destroyed by the fire, while none of the people was hurt. The rights defenders treated the attack on their office as a terror act.