Kadyrov against Orlov

In the Khamovniki court, human rights activists received the stand

Kadyrov against Orlov. The trial in the case of slander, which was initiated by the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against the head of the Human Rights Center "Memorial" Oleg Orlov, is approaching his final. On March 28, an interrogation of the victim, recently appointed head of the republic for a second term, should be held. Orlov does not plead guilty, and the representative of Kadyrov insists on “intentional slander” to the victim. The New Times was versed in the arguments of the parties

“I do not plead guilty. I do not deny that on July 15, 2009 he told reporters the words that were later included in the press release of the Memorial human rights center-this was how Oleg Orlov, the head of the PC “Hamovniki”, began its speech on March 363 of the Khamoriyal district.
He repeated the words that he said a few hours after the news of the brutal murder of human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in the vicinity of the village of Gazi-Yurt, near the border of Ingushetia and Chechnya. “These words,” Orlov continued in court: “I know, I am sure who is guilty of the murder of Natalia Estemirova. We all know this person. His name is Ramzan Kadyrov, this is the president of the Chechen Republic. Ramzan already threatened Natalya, insulted, considered her his personal enemy. We do not know whether he gave the order himself or did his closest associates to please his superiors. And President Medvedev, apparently, is satisfied with the killer as the head of one of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. ”
Arguments of Orlov
There are almost no places for journalists and human rights defenders in the small hall of the world section of the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow-they were occupied by Chechens and representatives of Caucasian communities. Previously, they were not at the meetings, but here they came. We sat quietly, listened carefully. And there was something to listen.
Within three hours, the accused explained in detail the court why he believes that in the murder of Estemirova there is the “political fault of President Kadyrov” * * Investigation of the murder of the employee of the Grozny branch of the PC “Memorial” Natalya Estemirova. The accusation was incorrectly brought by the militant Alkhazuru Bashaev, who is considered killed during a special operation .. Orlov said that Kadyrov fully controls the situation in the republic and leads the activities of security forces, who, "rudely violating human rights, often refer to the direct instructions of the President of Chechnya."
The interrogation of the accused was like a report on human rights violations. Actually, as in the first civil process on the protection of honor and dignity * * * on October 6, 2009, the Tver court of Moscow partially satisfied Kadyrov’s lawsuit against the protection of honor and dignity, setting the amount of compensation for 70 thousand rubles, which was already followed by the criminal process. The court became a tribune for witnesses of protection, which in detail, in details spoke of the hopeless executions, abductions, about violations of the rights of civilians in Chechnya, which they rarely write in newspapers today and are not told on television at all. And now these testimonies are filed into folders and acquired the status of a state document, which is “stored forever.” "

I know, I am sure who is guilty of the murder of Natalia Estemirova. We all know this person

“All participants in the process: Lawyer Orlova Henry Reznik, prosecutor Tatyana Popova, judge Karina Morozova, representative of Ramzan Kadyrov Andrei Krasnenkov asked the witnesses about the same thing: what nature was carried by Kadyrov’s relationship with Estemirova, whether he threatened her and what happened at that time in Chechnya.
Witnessing testimonies
The question of lawyer Henry Reznik witness Grigory Shvedov, editor of the Caucasian Knot portal: “What can you say specifically about human rights violations that are the most common over the years of the presidency of the younger Kadyrov?” * * Quotes from the transcript of the process laid out on the Memo.ru Swedes: “Let's look at the situation in Chechnya in comparison with other regions. What is the difference key? After all, people are killed, including human rights defenders in other regions. In Ingushetia, statistics are generally much more sad: there are more murders. In other regions, people are planted in prison, including public figures. This does not happen in Chechnya. The difference is that it was in Chechnya that in recent years the situation has developed when people are afraid to speak. They are not afraid because Ramzan Kadyrov forbids them to speak, they are afraid to speak because they see what is happening around. They see that the words about offenses in relation to the people with whom they are familiar can cost them life. And in this atmosphere of fear, the information vacuum, the voice of Natalia Estemirova was, one might say, the only one. I agree with the accused that Ramzan Kadyrov made it impossible to work human rights organizations in Chechnya. Both in Dagestan and Ingushetia there are a lot of criticism of human rights organizations, but still there is no atmosphere of intolerance in relation to them, as in Chechnya, in any region. And the highest leaders of Chechnya put an equal sign between them and the so -called enemies of the republic. ”
The head of the Nizhny Novgorod “Committee against torture” Igor Kalyapin is one of those human rights activists who became part of the so -called consolidated mobile group: * * Representatives of various human rights organizations conduct public investigations in Chechnya on the fact of human rights - they essentially replaced the employees of the “Memorial” when, after the murder of Natalia Estemirova, the work of this organization in Chechnya was discontinued. He told the court how he and his colleagues tried to deal with the problem of kidnapping people in Chechnya and found that the investigating authorities in the republic could not conduct these cases. “Formally, there is a consequence of these cases, but numerous instructions, requests that investigators in particularly important cases of the Republican Investigation Department in the Chechen Republic give police officers remain without any reaction,” says Kalyapin. -When, for example, we demanded to interrogate some police officer from the patrol service regiment, the investigator refused to satisfy this petition. We appealed in court, the court recognized the refusal illegal. And after that, the investigator confidentially told us: “Well, you understand, I will send him a summons - what's the point? Firstly, he will not come, and secondly, they will be beaten up tonight. ” This is the investigator of the UK at the prosecutor's office! People in Chechnya believe: a person with a machine gun is power, and on a person with some crusts-with some powers prescribed in some law there-completely does not give a damn. Therefore, there is such an inverted system: police officers are clearly focused not even on the Minister of the Interior, but on a particular person - the president of the Chechen Republic. ”
At the end of the interrogation, the prosecutor Popov asked Kalyapin what he thought when he read Orlov’s statement about Kadyrov’s involvement in Estemirova's death.
“I thought that Orlov expressed the assumption that arose in each of us. It arose with me. I honestly said Kadyrov about this, ”the human rights activist answered.
The arguments of Kadyrov
The fact that the President of Chechnya threatened Natalya Estemirova and she left Chechnya, fearing for her daughter’s life and life, all witnesses of defense said in court who knew the murdered human rights activist well. “Did she fear Ramzan Kadyrov? - the prosecutor Popov was interested in the witness Alexander Mnatsakanyan. “With a direct text:“ I am afraid that Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov will kill me or torture me, ”it was not spoken of these words. But from the general context, I clearly understood that she was afraid of Ramzan Kadyrov, ”the witness answered. "

I have my hands on the elbow in the blood. I killed and will kill ... I will kill enemies ... enemies of Chechnya

"The head of the Civil Assistance Committee Svetlana Gannushkina recalled Estemirova’s story about her last meeting with Kadyrov in the Youth Palace in Grozny:“ The conversation was very sharp. And even, I would say, by Chechen standards, Ramzan Kadyrov said what kind of sexual character the simple -haired woman causes him. Khuchiev (Grozny, who was present at the meeting, confirmed this with the Chechens, Natasha told me several times.
Witnesses of the prosecution
But the Commissioner for Human Rights in Chechnya Nurdi Nuhazhiev, summoned to the process as a witness to the prosecution, never heard that someone threatened Estemirova. According to him, Kadyrov in general, by nature, could not threaten a woman. But Nukhazhiev is well aware of who finances the Memorial: “This is the Soros Foundation, the US State Department, many embassies of various countries that do not experience the slightest sympathy for our country.”
In an interview with The New Times, the lawyer Kadyrov Andrei Krasnenkov said that the process is taking place as a firmly favorable script for accusing.
“I promise a serious sensation in the debate, I will give such facts about which the“ Memorial ”should have known if he was so concerned about observing human rights,” he told The New Times. “I learned that there, in Chechnya, there were a dozen people who criticized the structures of Chechnya worse than Estemirova, but for some reason they were alive, and in fact, the harmless against their background of Estemirov-died.”

Natalya Estemirova, an employee of the Grozny branch of the PC "Memorial", was stolen and killed in the vicinity of the village of Gazi-Yurt near the border of Ingushetia and Chechnya July 15, 2009
Lawyer Henry Reznik, in turn, told The New Times that he was not commenting on the cases that are in court. However, he believes that the prosecution of Orlov to criminal liability is unreasonable, and he will achieve an acquittal.
If Orlov’s fault in slander is proved, then he faces a penalty of a fine of one hundred to three hundred thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to three years