Colleagues of journalist Natalia Estemirova remember her merits on anniversary of her murder

When working in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova put the law above anything else and solved all problems exclusively in the legal field, and her main merit was saving lives, stated colleagues of the human rights defender who was killed 15 years ago.

A photograph of Natalia Estemirova and flowers were brought to the monument to victims of political repressions in Kazan on July 14, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the journalist’s murder.

Journalist Elena Milashina notes that the events in Ukraine are an echo of the Chechen war, only in a more terrible form.

Under those conditions, Natalia Estemirova “behaved the way normal people behave in a normal legal state,” noted Shakhman Akbulatov, the former head of the HRC “Memorial”* in Grozny. “In the conditions of lawlessness in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova tried to resolve problems exclusively in the legal field, appealing to the law. In some cases, it worked, but in others it didn’t,” Shakhman Akbulatov stated.

“The main thing she did was saving people,” emphasized Tanya Lokshina, the associate director for the Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division and a longtime friend of Natalia Estemirova.

Natalia Estemirova continued to work despite the fear, noted Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the director at the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre. “However, the burning feeling of injustice and the desire to restore justice were stronger than fear,” emphasized Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya as quoted in the Telegram channel of the “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence**.

*On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the “International Memorial” and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial” were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the register of foreign agents was the spread of “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces.”