Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - februari 2009

• 2009-03-02
• Europa in de wereld

2 februari

Congress of Ingush people; attacks on law enforcement officers in Ingushetia: (i) Press reports broadly on a congress of the Ingush people on Saturday in Ingushetia, initiated by Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, to discuss the socio-economic and criminal situation in Ingushetia. (ii) An officer from the Federal Security Service (FSB) was killed in an attack by gunmen on Friday in Nazran. On Thursday, two servicemen were killed in a clash with militants near Ingushetia’s border with Chechnya. (iii) The Supreme Court of Ingushetia has confirmed the illegitimacy of the detention of the owner of the Ingush opposition web site Ingushetiya.ru, Magomed Yevloyev, who died while in police custody in end-August 2008. (iv) The head of the administration of Dagestan’s Untsukul district, Kazimbek Akhmedov, was killed on Sunday in Dagestan. (Gazeta, Interfax, Izvestia, Kommersant, Lenta.ru, NG, VN)

10 februari

Policeman killed in Chechnya shootout; Chechnya President offers job to Zakayev: (i) According to media reports, one policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a clash between Chechen police and servicemen of the Sever (‘North’) and Yug (‘South’) battalions with militants yesterday in Chechnya’s Vedeno district. One militant was killed in the clash. (ii) In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said that he had invited Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev to return to Chechnya and assume a job at the Chechen Culture Ministry. (Interfax, RG, RIAN)

11 februari

Chechen investigators bring new charges against ex-colonel Budanov: Chechen investigators have launched criminal proceedings against former army colonel Yury Budanov on suspicion of his involvement in the abduction and the killing of three civilians in Chechnya in 2000. Budanov who was convicted of the murder of a Chechen girl and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment has recently been released on parole. (Gazeta, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia, VN)

12 februari

Four policemen from Murmansk killed in Nazran clash; seven militants killed in Kabardino-Balkaria: (i) Four policemen from the Murmansk region were killed and three others wounded in a clash with a group of militants on Thursday morning in Nazran, an unnamed source at the Federal Forces HQs in the Northern Caucasus told Interfax. (ii) Police said seven militants were killed in an operation yesterday in Kabardino-Balkaria (the Northern Caucasus). According to media reports, some of the killed militants could have been involved in the killing of nine hunters in the region in 2007. (iii) The Moscow Times reports on the probe in Austria into the killing of a Chechen refugee last month in Vienna. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT, RIAN, VN)

18 februari

Chechen separatist leader Zakayev hopes to return to Chechnya: (i) Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev said in a radio interview on Tuesday that he hoped to return to Chechnya. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said in a comment that Zakayev’s return could show “positive changes” in Chechnya. Meanwhile, Presidential envoy for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and organised crime Anatoly Safonov said Zakayev could return home and “prove his innocence” in Russian courts. Safonov also said that international terrorists, including al-Qaeda representatives, remain active in the Northern Caucasus. (ii) Kommersant reports on the return to Chechnya from Austria of Bukhari Barayev, a former representative of the leader of Chechen separatists Doku Umarov and the father of Movsar Barayev who led the Dubrovka theatre siege in Moscow in 2002. (Interfax, Kommersant, NG)

Wage arrears soars by 49.3% in January: Wage arrears in January grew by 49.3%, to reach RUR6.587bn, Rosstat reports, in particular in the Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories, the Chechen Republic, the Samara region and Moscow. Experts say that enterprises prefer not to pay their workers rather than dismiss them. There are around 1.7m officially registered unemployed people in Russia. (Vedomosti)

24 februari

Several militants killed in Dagestan; suspect in killing Chechen refugee in Vienna detained in Poland: (i) Several suspected militants were killed in a counter-terror operation over the weekend in Makhachkala. (ii) Polish police have reportedly arrested a suspect in the killing of Chechen refugee Umar Israilov in Vienna last month. The detainee is a Russian citizen of Chechen descent. The media recalls that Israilov was a critic and former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. (Gazeta, Interfax, Kommersant, MT)

27 februari

Policemen wounded in Dagestan blast; Kadyrov’s spokesman dismissed:(i) Four policemen and one passer-by were wounded in an explosion late on Thursday in Makhachkala. Local police said the bomb targeted a bus carrying policemen. (ii) According to media reports, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has dismissed his spokesman Lema Gudayev. (Interfax, Lenta.ru, RIAN, VN)

Strasbourg Courtrules in Chechen disappearances cases: The European Court of Human Rights has ordered that Russia pay 176,744 euro to the relatives of four Chechen residents who went missing in Chechnya in 2002-2005. (RIAN, NG)