Armed Chechen killed in police shoot-out in Czech NGO's rented facility(Prague Watchdog) - A major Czech relief agency operating in the Northern Caucasus today confirmed that a Chechen male had been killed in one of their rented facilities in Grozny during a shoot-out with the local police.
On Tuesday the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic announced that its special police unit (OMON) killed a Chechen guerrilla in a private house in the Leninsky district of Grozny on the previous night. In the cellar of the building, above-ground part of which is rented by the Czech NGO People in Need (PIN), the police allegedly discovered printing equipment on which Chechen guerrillas printed fake identity documents. The police also allegedly found two grenade launchers, several mines, and other weapons and ammunition there.
Marek Vozka, head of PIN's North Caucasus mission, on Tuesday said that no Czech employee was present in the house during the police operation and that he was totally surprised to hear the news about the printing equipment and weapons.
Šimon Pánek, director of PIN's relief operations, today told the Czech News Agency that the dead man was a brother of one of their female Chechen employees. The reason for his presence in the house at night is being investigated, he added.
In the building, PIN runs its women's center, where Chechen women can meet, gain practical skills, and receive medical and psychological assistance. Since the beginning of this year, several courses have been offered in the center, including a course in sewing, traditional knitting, English, and computers.
As regards the alleged printing equipment on which, according to the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic, the culprits used to print fake documents, Pánek said that he had no such information. "We only know that they [the police] seized our six common computers and a common black-and-white printer. I don't assume one can make fake identity cards of the Interior Ministry on a common printer," Pánek said.
The People in Need is a Prague-based non-governmental, non-profit organization. Its mission to the North Caucasus was established in January 2000. Its current projects include securing access to food, development projects, reconstruction of private housing, medical assistance, social rehabilitation and education. In Grozny alone, PIN rents over two dozen facilities and employs about 120 local workers. (T)
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