Memorial

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Chechnya

A new list of political prisoners in the North Caucasus

by OC Media

•3 min read

According to human rights activists in Russia, there are at least 420 political prisoners in the country right now, of those 33 are in the North Caucasus. The list of Russia-wide political prisoners was published by the human rights organisation Memorial. The current number of political prisoners in Russia rivals that of the late USSR, prior to the release of prisoners of conscience by Mikheil Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. The identities of the political prisoners are var

Chechen-Ingush Land Deal

Thousands demand release of Ingush activist Zarifa Sautiyeva

by OC Media

•4 min read

An online protest is demanding the release of Zarifa Sautiyeva, an activist against Ingushetia’s controversial land deal with Chechnya. Thousands of people from all over Russia have uploaded videos calling for her release. Sautiyeva is the former deputy director of the Memorial of Memory and Glory, a large memorial and museum complex in Ingushetia’s largest city, Nazran, dedicated to the victims of political repression. She was arrested on 13 July on charges of organising the use of violen

Chechnya

Chechen rights activist Titiyev granted parole

by OC Media

•4 min read

A court in the Russian Republic of Chechnya has granted parole to Oyub Titiyev, the head of the Chechen branch of Russian rights group Memorial. Chechnya’s Shali District Court made the decision on 10 June, meaning if prosecutors do not appeal he could be released on 20 June. Titiyev was sentenced to four years in a penal colony for illegal possession of drugs on 18 March by the Shali District Court of Chechnya. [Read more on OC Media: Chechnya sentences rights activist Oyub Titiyev to

Chechnya

Silence in the courtroom: how one of Chechnya’s last human rights defenders was convicted on drug charges

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

On 18 March, Chechen human rights defender Oyub Titiyev was sentenced to four years in prison on trumped-up drug charges. He is only the latest victim in Russia’s repressions against civil society in the North Caucasus. ‘Let justice reign!’ reads the banner hanging over the compound of the court house in Shali, Chechnya. The slogan is accompanied by a strict-looking Akhmat Kadyrov, the North Caucasus republic’s former leader. Next to the courthouse, there’s a new business centre (‘Shali-

Chechnya

Chechnya sentences rights activist Oyub Titiyev to four years in prison

by OC Media

•4 min read

A prominent rights activist in the Russian Republic of Chechnya has been sentenced to four years in prison on drug charges. On Monday, Chechnya’s Shali District Court convicted Oyub Titiyev, the head of the Grozny branch of Russia’s Memorial Human Rights Centre of the ‘unlawful acquisition and storage of a large quantity’ of illegal drugs. ‘They fabricated the case for five months, the following eight months — was a verdict’, Titiyev told journalists from behind the bars in the courtroom

Chechnya

Chechnya: a dangerous silence

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

Many families in Chechnya tell of young male relatives who have either disappeared without trace or are being held in detention, suggesting such cases are not rare. ‘Don’t think I would condone [his actions] if he were guilty, but at least let him be tried and sentenced. They won’t even tell me where he is!’ says Amalia (not her real name) from Chechnya. Her nephew disappeared last year and she has received no news of his whereabouts since. Amalia is certain he is being held by Chechnya’

Daghestan

Parents protest teen shepherds’ murders in Daghestan

by OC Media

•5 min read

The parents of two teenage shepherds gunned down in the Russian Republic of Daghestan have began a protest in front of the republic’s government building demanding their killings be properly investigated. While the authorities initially claimed the brothers were militants killed in a shootout with police, charges against them were later dropped and a murder investigation opened. Sevnteen-year-old Nabi Gasanguseynov and his 19-year-old brother Gasanguseyn were shot dead on the night of 23 Au