The director of the EU-based Human Rights Centre — Ichkeria, Aslan Artsuev, has been placed on a Russian wanted list. While the authorities have not specified what charges he is being accused of, it is likely that he is being accused of terrorism.
Artsuev was reported to have been on the wanted list on 22 September by Russian independent media outlet Mediazona.
His name can be found on the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service’s list with an asterisk next to it, which usually indicates terrorism-related charges.
Artsuev had repeatedly faced administrative charges, having previously been held liable for failing to notify state authorities of his activities as a ‘foreign agent’.
Russia’s foreign agent law stipulates that should three such protocols be drawn up against a foreign agent within a year, the next violation may already be considered under a criminal case. However, this procedure does not automatically entail inclusion in the Federal Financial Monitoring Service list, which indicates that a separate case has been opened against Artsuev specifically related to terrorism charges.
Artsuev is known as an activist who organised events in Europe highlighting human rights violations in Chechnya. In particular, he held protests in Germany demanding a thorough investigation into the killing of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in August 2019. A German court established that the murder was carried out by a Russian citizen on orders from the Russian security services.
After the protests in support of an investigation into Khangoshvili’s killing, four of Artsuev’s relatives were abducted by security forces in Chechnya in 2021. Human rights organisations at the time reported pressure on the activist’s family in the republic.
In February 2024 the Russian Justice Ministry included Artsuev in its foreign agents registry. The ministry stated that he ‘called for actions that could lead to a violation of Russia’s territorial integrity’. The documents also said that Artsuev spread information which the Russian authorities described as ‘unreliable’, and opposed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the official website of the Human Rights Centre — Ichkeria, the organisation led by Artsuev works to protect democracy and human rights, as well as providing legal assistance to victims of the regime in Chechnya. The centre’s materials emphasise that its activities focus on documenting violations and supporting residents of the region facing persecution.
Elizaveta Chukharova
