01:40, 12 May 2018

Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev awarded by the Moscow Helsinki Group

Oyub Titiev in the Supreme Court of Chechnya. Photo by the press service of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial"

For the courage demonstrated in defending human rights, Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has been awarded by the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Supreme Court of Chechnya refused to release Titiev under the guarantees Svetlana Gannushkina, a rights defender, and Sergey Nefyodov, a cosmonaut. The court ignored the defence's arguments that the case had been falsified, said the advocates.

Since January 11, 2018, Oyub Titiev is under arrest on charges of possessing marijuana. He keeps asserting that a law enforcer had planted the drug on him. The Titiev's case is a link in the chain of actions aimed to "squeeze out" rights defenders from Chechnya and the neighbouring regions, Oleg Orlov, a member of the board of the HRC "Memorial", believes.

On May 10, the rights defenders Tatiana Lokshina and Oleg Orlov met the German Foreign Minister and discussed the Titiev's case with him, the HRC "Memorial" reports.

In her page on the Facebook, Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the "Civil Assistance" Committee, has called Titiev "one of the most reliable persons" among all her friends.

"He is a deeply religious Muslim, who tactfully refuses to sit to the table while alcohol is thereon." A former physical training teacher, Oyub Titiev is an excellent sportsman... he doesn't smoke and has no other bad habits," Svetlana's text reads.

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