The executive manager of the RCFS is summoned for an interrogation as a suspect09 August 2005. Stanislav Dmitrievsky, the executive manager of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and the editor-in-chief of the “Pravosaschita” newspaper has been summoned for an interrogation to the prosecutor's office of Nizhny Novgorod Region as a suspect . Dmirievsky was notified about it with a writ signed by the chief investigator Oleg Kirukov who has received the criminal case against the “Pravozaschita” newspaper for investigation. The interrogation is to take place on 11 August at 2 pm in the room 117 at the prosecutor's office.
As we reported earlier, on 11 January 2005, the prosecutor's office of Nizhny Novgorod Region initiated a criminal case charging “The Pravosaschita” newspaper of publishing a statement made by the president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov, in which he appealed to the European Parliament, and an appeal of his foreign representative Akhmed Zakaev to the Russian people. These two Chechen leaders called to the peaceful reconciliation of the Russian-Chechen armed conflict in their statements and expressed their opinions about its causes and reasons. Zakaev also called not to vote for a presidential contender Vladimir Putin at the coming elections as, in his opinion, the latter was supported by the party of war.
“The Pravozaschita” newspaper is a joint project of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and Nizhny Novgorod Society for Human Rights. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper is Stanislav Dmitrievsky who is also the managing director of the RCFS and the editor-in-chief of the Information center at the RCFS. According to the Russian law, it's him who is responsible for the compliance of the articles published in the newspaper with the norms of the Russian legislation. The case was initiated in reference to part 2 of article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that is public incitement to extremist activities through mass media outlets. The case was investigated by the FSB as this article is under its jurisdiction.
Dmitrievsky was summoned to the interrogation at the FSB on 20 January. The same day four servicemen of the FSB arrived at the office hired by RCFS and NNSHR and seized all the registration documents of the newspaper, a filing of its issues as well as all the contracts with the staffers of the Information Center including the ones of those who work and live in the Chechen Republic. Some other documents were seized too. All the staffers of the editorial office of the Information Centre at the RCFS that is situated in Nizhny Novgorod were interrogated in January and February. In March 2005 the FSB Department in the Chechen Republic received a special mandate from the Nizhny Novgorod Region Department of the FSB to summon the staffers of the Information center to be interrogated. Seven Chechen staffers of the Information Center whose contracts had been seized by the FSB in Nizhny Novgorod were interrogated. Those interrogations were used as means of intimidation. As a result, some reporters made a decision to quit their jobs at the Information Center. There was an attempt to blacken the reputation of one of the reporters. The FSB servicemen told neighbors of the reporter responsible for Achkhoy-Martan district Petimat Tokaeva that she was their informer.
In April the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society appealed to specialists of the Independent Law Council of Experts (Moscow) to carry the legal expertise of the incriminated publications for the purpose of establishing signs of the crime that article 280 of the Criminal Code refers to. The expertise came to the conclusion that there were no signs of this crime in the aforementioned publications. This decision of the commission of experts was adduced to the case. The FSB carried its own linguistic expertise of the incriminated publications simultaneously with the Independent Law Council of Experts. It was carried by specialists from the Ministry of Justice. Their experts also came to the conclusion that there were no utterances that can be considered under jurisdiction of Article 280 in the two incriminated publications. However, they made a decision that there were signs of the crime that Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation refers to. This is inciting ethnic and religious hatred. As Article 282 of the Criminal Code is not under jurisdiction of the FSB, the case was sent back to the prosecutor's office of Nizhny Novgorod Region in the last ten days of April. Dmitirevsky learnt about it on 25 April at the prosecutor's office where he was summoned for another interrogation as a witness.
All the staffers of the Information Center at the RCFS who have been interrogated so far are were questioned as witnesses to the criminal case. None of them have been accused of the law violation. Due to it, none of the people that have been interrogated so far have no procedural rights to learn the case or the writ on its initiation.
The leaders of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society are sure that all the attempts to find signs of the crimes indicated by both Article 280 and 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are groundless, absurd and politically biased.
(The text was not edited by Prague Watchdog).
Source: Russian-Chechen Information Agency (B) |
