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Chechen leader to sue rights group chief over murder allegations

© Mihail Fomichev Chechen leader to sue rights group chief over murder allegations
 Chechen leader to sue rights group chief over murder allegations  - Sputnik International
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Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov plans to sue the director of a human rights group that accused him of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova, the leader's spokesman said on Friday.

GROZNY, July 17 (RIA Novosti) - Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov plans to sue the director of a human rights group that accused him of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova, the leader's spokesman said on Friday.

Estemirova, who had been investigating kidnappings and disappearances in Chechnya for the Russian human rights group Memorial, was abducted and murdered on Wednesday in the south Russian republic.

In a radio interview the following day, the director of Memorial said Kadyrov had personally threatened Estemirova over her work, and that people subordinate to the Chechen leader had murdered her.

"The president's lawyer, Andrei Krasnenkov, will file a lawsuit to defend the honor, integrity and business reputation of the president of the Chechen Republic in regard to a statement made by the director of the Memorial center, Oleg Orlov, accusing the president of murdering the human rights activist Natalya Estemirova," the spokesman said.

He said the claim would be filed in Moscow, where Memorial is registered, and that a statement on the slander allegations would be submitted the Moscow police department.

In a statement published on Memorial's website on Wednesday, Orlov said: "I know, I am certain who is to blame for the murder of Natasha Estemirova. We all know this person. His name is Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the Chechen Republic."

In an interview with Radio Liberty the following day, Orlov said: "I have no doubt that behind the murder of Estemirova stand people subordinate to Ramzan Kadyrov, who indulge in murders, violence, and unlawfulness on Russian territory, and also outside Russia," he said.

Kadyrov's press service said the Chechen leader had called Orlov, and said: "You are not a prosecutor or a judge, and so your statements about my guilt are, to put it mildly, unethical and insulting to me."

Orlov replied that he had not accused Kadyrov personally of killing Estemirova, but had meant that, as president, he was responsible for crime in the republic, which saw two brutal separatist wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, Chechnya's Segodnya news agency later reported.

Kadyrov told journalists on Wednesday evening that "a search for the criminals will be carried out not only during an official investigation, but also unofficially, according to Chechen traditions." He did not give further details.

Estemirova's body was found on Wednesday afternoon in Ingushetia, which borders on Chechnya. Her body had bullet wounds to the head and chest, suggesting an execution-style shooting.

Estemirova had earlier worked with journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in Moscow in October 2006, and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was killed in the Russian capital in January of this year. Both Politkovskaya and Markelov had been involved in investigations into human rights abuses in Chechnya.

Kadyrov, who fought against federal forces in the first Chechen war before switching sides in 1999, has been president of Chechnya since February 2007. His father and former Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in a terrorist bomb attack in Grozny in May 2004.

Kadyrov and his personal security service have frequently been accused of abductions by human rights groups. His critics have also claimed he has encouraged a "cult of personality" in the republic.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has dismissed claims that Kadyrov was behind the murder as "primitive."

"As for the theories, I believe that those who committed this crime expected that the theories most primitive and unacceptable to the authorities would be put forward immediately," Medvedev said on Thursday at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Munich.

Medvedev also said "it is obvious that her murder was directly connected with her professional activities."

Russia's North Caucasus has seen an upsurge in violence in recent months, despite the Kremlin's decision to end its 10-year counter terrorism operation in Chechnya.

 

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