The US State Department requires the release of Titiev

The US State Department demanded that the Chechen authorities immediately release the chairman of the regional branch of the Memorial Oyub Titiev, against which the case of illegal trafficking in drugs would be fabricated. The statement of the official representative of the State Department Hister Neurt is published on the website of the department.

The federal authorities, "taking into account quite reasonable concern in connection with the possibility of evil treatment of Mr. Titiev in conclusion," the State Department called for the protection of the rights of the activist "in accordance with the Russian constitution and obligations in the field of human rights."

Earlier on Wednesday, a similar statement was made by the Commissioner of the Council of Europe on Human Rights Nils Muzhniex. The European official described suspicions of Titiyev’s involvement in drug trafficking as doubtful.

On the morning of Tuesday, 60-year-old Titiev, a resident of Kurchaloy, was detained by the Kadyrovites near his village when he went to work in Grozny. The security forces inspected Titiev’s car, after which they delivered a human rights activist to the district OMVD. At the same time, the first few hours they denied that the detainee was in the department, although his car was parked by the building.

Later on the same day, it became known that they opened the case against Titiev under part 2 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code (illegal overalls of drugs on a large amount), which provides for 3 to 10 years of the colony. The human rights activist was stated in the car with 180 grams of marijuana.

Drug cases against public activists were fabric in Chechnya earlier. In 2014, Ruslan Kutaev, president of the Assembly of the peoples of the Caucasus, was convicted of the same part 2 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code. Three weeks ago, he freed himself from the Chechen IK-2 general regime in the village of Chernokozovo, completely serving a period of 3 years 10 months.

In 2016, on the same charges , the journalist of the Caucasian Knot Jalalaudi Geriev received three years of general regime. In the cassation, the case was retrained from part 2 to the less difficult part of Article 228, but the term of the political zyt was left unchanged.

Both Kutaeva and Geriev were tortured after detention, seeking confession.