Press Release, 09.10.2014

Youth YABLOKO’s Nikolai Kavkazsky, Maria Yefimova, Elena Kriven and Igor Bakirov brought claims demanding to investigate the murder of YABLOKO member and opposition journalist Timur Kuashev to Prosecutor General’s office and the Investigative Committee. They also conducted one-person picketing.

Maria Yefimova

The claim was written by Alan Alikov (the North Ossetia branch of Youth YABLOKO activist) on behalf of Youth YABLOKO cross-regional council.

The journalist was gone on July 31 and the next day the workers of the Rescue Service found his body was in a forest by the road. Timur’s relatives and friends are certain that Timur was murdered because of his political activity since Timur received threats form the law enforcement including the Center for Combating Extremism (or Center E, as it is usually referred to, whose officers spend their time monitoring civil activists, harassing them at rallies, and spying on opposition politicians).

Nikolai Kavkazsky

However, the criminal case under the Article 105 (murder) was brought only a month after his body was found. An autopsist discovered an injection track under Timur’s arm but the results of an expertise aren’t ready yet.

“There grounds to suspect that the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria aren’t interested in finding those guilty of Timur Kuashev’s murder. Only public attention can protect the people who are persecuted by the authorities and restore justice”, claim the activists.

Timur is not the first journalist of the North Caucasus whose death has not been investigated. The murders of Khadzhimurat Kalamov, Gadzhi Abashilov, Nadirshakh Khachikaev, YABLOKO’s friend Natalya Estemirova, Ruslan Nakhushaev and many other journalists have not been brought to responsibility.

Igor Bakirov

Elena Kriven

See also:

Human rights defenders and Timur Kaushev’s family claim he was murdered on political grounds

Mitrokhin demanded from Investigative Commitee to investigate murder of Timur Kuashev

YABLOKO’s Timur Kaushev found dead in Nalchik