Maria Yefimova’s blog, 27.11.2014

We, Youth YABLOKO’s activists, brought claims demanding to investigate the murder of YABLOKO member and opposition journalist Timur Kuashev to Prosecutor General’s office and the Investigative Committee on October 8, 2014.

Timur Kuashev paid the ultimate price for his journalistic and political activity. An injection track was found on Timur’s body, but the results of the expertise haven’t been announced yet. A criminal case on the murder was brought only due to public pressure and only on September 4, 2014, a month and four days since the day the journalist’s body was found in the suburbs of Nalchik [the Republic of Kbardino-Balkaria].

Within the past two months we’ve been receiving runarounds which said where our claim have been redirected. We even had to acquire a a special pile of runaround papers. But one of these days a letter from the Office of Investigations of Nalchik arrived, it ran that Timur Kuashev’s case was on special control and exhaustive measures were being taken. Moreover, they promised to CHECK our arguments concerning threats addressed to Timur Kuashev within the investigation and enter our claim upon the record.

I stressed the verb “CHECK” on purpose since it’s a rare case when one receives such an answer from Russia’s law enforcement agencies.

Why am I writing this? I understand that Timur Kuashev’s case isn’t the first case on murder of a journalist in Russia which the authorities try to hush up. But I have no doubt that the day when the murderers and those who ordered the crime will be punished will by all means come and it depends on us how soon it will come.

In this hurricane of events – change of authority in Ukraine, war, ruble’s fall – one can hardly catch up with all the events. But we must never forget about the people who have paid the ultimate price or were arrested for their beliefs since only public attention can help to protect them and restore justice.

I call you not to forget about Timur Kuashev, about other journalists who were murdered, about political prisoners. I call you to write letters to political prisoners, write claims to investigative bodies, participate in protest actions.