09 February 2008, 17:42
"Kommersant": relations between militaries and civil authorities can aggravate in Chechnya
The yesterday's too lenient, in the opinion of the Chechen party, verdict to Lieutenant Colonel Korgun, guilty of murdering a woman-resident of the Shatoi District of Chechnya, can result in sharp worsening of relations between militaries and civil authorities, the "Kommersant" newspaper writes today.
The passed verdict - three years of conditional imprisonment - was treated by Nurdi Nukhazhiev, Ombudsman for Chechnya, as a challenge to justice. "The court has just sheltered the murderer, and we are not going to reconcile with it," the newspaper quotes Mr Nukhazhiev as saying.
According to his version, "Korgun's group deliberately opened fire for effect at the women whose only guilt was that they were gathering ramson." The Ombudsman is convinced that due to militaries' impunity, "they again and again commit crimes against peaceful population."
The paper draws parallels of the above trial with recent artillery shelling "by mistake" of the Gekhi village.
