Novaya Gazeta

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Suleiman Gezmakhmaev and his Chechen Interior Ministry ID card. Illustration: Novaya Gazeta.

Chechnya

Former Chechen security official tells story of extrajudicial executions

by OC Media

•3 min read

Novaya Gazeta has published the story of Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, a former employee of the Chechen Interior Ministry and an alleged witness to extrajudicial executions. According to the newspaper, Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, senior sergeant of the Akhmat Kadyrov police patrol regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Chechnya was directly involved in the illegal detentions of Chechen residents. In December 2016 and January 2017, he reportedly detained people, guarded them in t

Freedom of Speech

Arson attack against Russian rights group Memorial’s Ingushetia office

by OC Media

•2 min read

Russian rights group Memorial’s office in Nazran has been severely damaged in an arson attack. Early morning on 17 January, two people wearing masks entered the second floor of the building, which houses the group’s office, and set it ablaze. According to Memorial’s website, a CCTV camera captured the moment of the attack. Two men wearing masks and carrying a canister reportedly arrived by car at 03:35, then climbed a ladder to the second floor. After unsuccessfully trying to destroy t

Chechnya

Chechen Union of Journalists accuses Novaya Gazeta of ‘working for the West’

by OC Media

•2 min read

The Chechen Union of Journalists has issued an official statement condemning Novaya Gazeta’s reporting of a mass execution of detainees in Chechnya. They claim that the author of the article, Yelena Milashina, ‘suffers from maniacal obsession and a pathological predilection for revealing imaginary crimes’. The Union of Journalists released their statement after a number of Chechen officials, including Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, denied the mass execution of 27 detainees in January. The

Chechnya

Twenty-seven people ‘secretly executed' in Chechnya

by OC Media

•2 min read

According to an article published on 9 July on the website of Novaya Gazeta, on the night of 25–26 January, Chechen security forces secretly shot to death 27 young people detained in mid-January. All the detainees were being held in the headquarters of the Chechen Patrol Police in Grozny. According to the article’s author, Yelena Milashina, the detentions were connected with the killing of a Chechen police officer by a group of young men on 17 December 2016. ‘Following 17 December 2016,

Anna Politkovskaya

Mastermind behind murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s dies in prison

by OC Media

•2 min read

Lom-Ali Gaytukayev, who was sentenced to lifetime in prison for planning the 2006 murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, died in a penal colony in the Vologda Oblast on 10 June. Ekaterina Avtushko, head of the press-office of Federal Penitentiary Service in Vologda Oblast, has confirmed his death. His body was handed to his relatives, who will bury him in Chechnya. ‘He had a severe chronic illness. He was going through treatment for a long time’, Avtushko told RBK. Gaytu

Chechnya

Kremlin denies reports of queer persecutions in Chechnya

by OC Media

•2 min read

The press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov said on 20 April that reports about mass detentions, torture, and killing of Chechen men suspected of being gay couldn’t be confirmed. Peskov’s statement came after a meeting between Putin and Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov on 19 April, during which Kadyrov denied the media reports, calling them a ‘provocation’. When asked about the numerous testimonies of persecuted queer men published in the media, Peskov replied tha

Chechnya

Novaya Gazeta journalists fear for safety following report on Chechen gay purge

by OC Media

•2 min read

On 13 April, the editorial staff of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta published a statement saying they were fearing for their safety following their report on detentions, tortures, and killings of Chechen man suspected of being gay. According to the newspaper, more than a hundred men were detained and at least three were killed. Many believe that these numbers are understated. The Chechen authorities denied Novaya Gazeta’s findings, calling it an attempt to ‘tarnish Chechnya’s reputation’