Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - januari 2012

• 2012-02-07
• Europa in de wereld

Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - januari 2012

10 januari 2012

Clash in Chechnya: The fighting happened as government forces confronted a group of rebels at a camp in heavily forested mountains. The militants had reportedly laid trip wires and mines around their hideout, which were buried under deep snow. Newspapers say that 4 law enforcement officers were killed and 14 wounded. (All media)

12 januari 2012

Attempted attack in Dagestan: A Russian policeman was killed and at least eight of his colleagues were wounded when a powerful bomb exploded as they were attempting to defuse it in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan where the bomb was found at the federal highway “Kavkaz”. According to the media report, this was an attempt to blow the convoy of military trucks and equipment engaged in the special operations in the region. (Kommersant, Interfax)

16 januari 2012

Northern Caucasus: (i) Vedomosti reports on a rally of construction workers on Friday in Grozny to demand payment of wage arrears. According to human rights activists, at least 100 people participated in the action. (ii) Up to 1,000 residents of the Dagestani village of Gimry took part in a rally on Saturday to protest against the regime of counterterrorist operation and arbitrariness by law enforcement agencies. (iii) FSB officer Yunus Guseinov was killed in an attack on Saturday in Makhachkala (capital of Dagestan). Former senior police official in Ingushetia Ilez Nalgiyev was injured in an attack late on Thursday in Ingushetia. Kommersant recalls that Nalgiyev has been accused of torture. (iv) In an interview with Kommersant, senior official at the Investigative Committee Anatoly Iskantsev comments on the investigations of the January 2011 terrorist attack at Moscow's Domodedovo airport and the March 2010 Moscow metro bombings. (Kommersant, Lenta.ru, Vedomosti)

23 januari 2012

Court closes slander case against Memorial head: A Moscow district court on Friday closed the slander case against head of the Memorial human rights centre Oleg Orlov, who was charged with slandering Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Orlov claimed that Kadyrov had been involved in the murder of rights activist Natalia Estemirova in July 2009. The criminal case against Orlov was closed due to decriminalization of slander. (Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta)

24 januari 2012

Putin's article on interethnic relations: The press comments on Prime Minister and Presidential candidate Vladimir Putin's second article in his Presidential campaign. The article published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on Monday was dedicated to interethnic relations, migration policy and nationalism. Putin warned inter alia that the creation of nationalist parties in Russian regions would be a "direct path to separatism." Several hours after the publication of the article, Putin addressed interethnic relations at a forum of the peoples of south Russia in Kislovodsk (the Stavropol territory). Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov took part in the forum and is quoted by Kommersant as criticising famous blogger Alexei Navalny. (Izvestia, Kommersant, MN, RBK daily, RG)

Suspect in killing of former Chechen commander removed from Interpol list: Duma member Adam Delimkhanov has reportedly been removed from Interpol's wanted list at a request from Dubai police. Delimkhanov was a suspect in the killing of former commander of the Defence Ministry's Vostok battalion Sulim Yamadayev in Dubai in 2009. (Kommersant, MT, Novye Izvestia)

25 januari 2012

) Rallies planned in support of Putin; Putin's rating stands at 38% – Communist: (i) Novaya Gazeta reports on plans to hold a rally on 28 January in Yekaterinburg in support of PM Vladimir Putin. The action will mark the launch of a new strategy elaborated by the staff of first deputy head of the Presidential Administration Vyacheslav Volodin following opposition protests in Moscow in December. The new strategy envisions organisation of rallies in support of Putin in order to prevent an 'orange revolution'. According to Novaya Gazeta, up to 70,000-100,000 people may take part in a rally of Putin's supporters on 25 February in Moscow. Yesterday in Kemerovo, Putin attended an action in his support organised by the All-Russia People's Front. (ii) Duma's Communist Party member Oleg Smolin argued on his blog that according to classified data of a poll carried out by FAPSI, the electoral rating of PM Putin stands at 38% and continues to drop, while Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov's electoral rating is 20%. Smolin said he anticipated massive violations during the 4 March Presidential election and claimed that the authorities have outlined the task to ensure Putin's victory in the first round by all means. Dailies cite Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov who has expressed confidence that Putin would win the election in the first round.(Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, MN, NG, Novaya Gazeta, RBK daily, RG)

30 januari 2012

Four soldiers, five militants killed in Dagestan; militant leader killed in Ingushetia: (i) Four Interior Troops servicemen were killed and three others were wounded in a clash with militants in Dagestan's Kizlyar district on Friday. Five militants were killed in the clash. In a separate incident on Saturday in Makhachkala (capital of Dagestan), two children were wounded in an explosion. (ii) Law enforcement officers said that three militants, including a militant leader from the 'Imarat Kavkaz' ('Caucasus Emirate') terrorist organisation Dzhamaleil Mutaliyev (known as Adam), were killed in an operation on Friday in Ingushetia. According to the National Antiterrorism Committee, Mutaliyev was a close associate to terrorist leader Shamil Basayev. (iii) Dailies report on plans to build a ski resort in Ingushetia. More than 5,000 new jobs may be created in Ingushetia under the project. (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, MN, Novye Izvestia, RBK daily)