Press Release, 3.02.2022

 Photo by Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant

On 3 February, Nikolai Rybakov demanded from Vladimir Putin to restore the rights of Russian citizens living in the Chechen Republic.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

You are the only person in our country who can stop the massive violation of the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation living in the Chechen Republic, a subject of the Russian Federation.

The people of the Chechen Republic have paid an incredible price to be part of the Russian Federation. Almost every family has relatives who were killed or disappeared during the first and the second Chechen wars. People living in the Chechen Republic deserve to live and work without fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

A few days ago, outrageous videos of the completely illegal kidnapping of Zarema Musayeva [mother of human rights activist Abubakar Yangulbayev and wife of Saidy Yangulbayev, former Judge of the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic], which took place in Nizhny Novgorod, were published in the media. The commentary of this event, made by your Press Secretary, testifies to confusion and lack of position.

This causes serious concern, since the leaders of the state authorities of the [Chechen] Republic call  public and state figures of our country “terrorists” and “accomplices of terrorists”, including Igor Kalyapin, a member of the Council for Human Rights and the Development of Civil Society under the President of the Russian Federation, Yelena Milashina [journalist of Novaya Gazeta], as well as Novaya Gazeta [headed by Novel Prize winner Dmitry Muratov] and the Dozhd TV channel. Statements addressed to them cannot be perceived otherwise than as a threat to the lives of these people and the employees of these media. In this case, we are talking about well-known people and organisations in the country, but what happens to ordinary citizens whom the authorities of the Chechen Republic dislike for some reason?

The inaction of the highest authorities of our country in relation to such a situation is absolutely unacceptable.

As the President of the country, you bear the full political and human responsibility for the life and health of people against whom mortal threats are made. The current government in our country is arranged in such a way, that only you can try to save the lives of these and many other people in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Russia.

I am urging you to do so.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman