Press Release, 21.04.2020

A statement by the Congress of the Intelligentsia was published on the Internet. The statement was signed by many prominent members of the Yabloko party, including party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman Boris Vishnevsky, members of the Federal Political Committee Valery Borschyov, Svetlana Gannushkina, Emilia Slabunova, Viktor Sheinis and Lev Shlosberg, co-chair Human Rights Faction of the party Sergei Kovalev.

Politicians, activists, public figures, journalists and academics who signed the statement demanded that state protection be provided to Yelena Milashina, Novaya Gazeta’s special correspondent, whom Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov actually threatened to kill for her critical publications about the situation with the coronavirus epidemic in the Republic. The Congress also demanded that the Investigative Committee institute criminal proceedings against Kadyrov.

The document also notes that the Kremlin once again “silently approved” the actions of the President of Chechnya.

We are publishing the full text of the statement below:

WE DEMAND TO PROVIDE STATE PROTECTION TO YELENA MILASHINA AND OPEN A CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST RAMZAN KADYROV

Statement

April 20, 2020

The Kremlin once again turns a blind eye on the criminal actions of Ramzan Kadyrov.

On 13 April, he openly threatened reprisals against Novaya Gazeta employees. The video with threats was first posted on Kadyrov’s Instagram page, but subsequently deleted; now it can be seen on the YouTube network.

Kadyrov demands that the federal authorities “stop these villains” from Novaya Gazeta, “If you want us to commit a crime and become criminals, then say so. One will take on this burden, responsibility, and will be punished according to the law, will sit in prison and go out. Do not try to make bandits, murderers of us…”

The President of Russia, through the words of his spokesman Peskov, limited himself to such assessment of what was said, “Yes, we saw it. Very emotional indeed. But, on the other hand, now the situation is very emotional. Therefore, we did not see anything unusual there”.

This is not the first public call of Ramzan Kadyrov and his entourage to serious crimes. On 4 November last year, at a meeting in the republican government, Kadyrov called for stopping journalists and human rights activists writing about human rights violations in Chechnya, and users of social networks criticising the authorities of the Republic, “If we don’t stop them, killing, imprisoning and scaring [them], nothing will come of it”.

Then the Kremlin via the same Peskov said that it did not intend to respond to calls from a senior official for murder.

Such statements by Chechen officials have repeatedly been followed by real serious crimes. Those undesirable for Kadyrov were killed in Chechnya and in other regions of the North Caucasus. Killers sent from Chechnya committed murders and attempts in Moscow, Turkey, Ukraine, in Western, Central and Northern Europe. This is confirmed not only by the confessions of the detainees, criminal case materials, media publications, but also by the verdict of the Austrian court.

Each time, the Russian authorities refused to facilitate the investigation, covered and defended the criminals, in fact becoming complicit in the crimes.

Now Kadyrov is sending targeted threatens of murder – to Novaya Gazeta and its correspondent Yelena Milashina, and the threats were the response to her article.

We demand the provision of state protection to journalist Yelena Milashina.

We demand that the Investigative Committee of Russia institute criminal proceedings against Ramzan Kadyrov.

Impunity must be stopped.

The original application with a list of signatories is here.