Chechen NGO in Ingushetia raidedTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus - Unknown armed men made an unsponsored raid on the office of a Chechen public and human rights organization in Ingushetia early this morning.
Members of the Institute of Political Culture "Lamast" who were present in their office in a private flat in the Kostoyeva Street in the Sleptsovskaya village during the raid said that about 20 unknown masked men wearing camouflage broke into their office and started searching there.
"Without identifying themselves and presenting a search warrant, they carried out a real raid. They made us leave with faces down. They rummaged through all papers and switched on our computer. They were interrogating Lamast director Lyoma Shakhmurzayev," a Lamast member said.
According to neighbours, there were at least 20 men involved in the operation, who arrived in two vehicles.
Shakhmurzayev's fellow human rights defenders think that the search was motivated by Lamast's activities. "Lyoma Shakhmurzayev is known as an author of one of the plans of peace resolution of the conflict in Chechnya. In this connection he has met many Russian politicians, as well as representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria," says Ruslan Zhadayev of SNO, the umbrella organization of Chechen human rights and public organizations in Ingushetia.
"Last December the head of the Ingush migration service, Ivan Pomeshchenko, threatened to Chechen human rights defenders to get them. It's possible that his plan began to materialize," Zhadayev said.
(T) |
