Estemirova murder: Kadyrov blamed
Human rights campaigner Natalia Estemirova was investigating
militiamen backed by President Kadyrov when she was dragged
from her home and shot dead
BY JACK BREMERFIRST POSTED JULY 16, 2009
The 32-year-old strongman who runs Chechnya, President Ramzan Kadyrov, claimed "I don't kill women" when he was implicated in the 2006 murder of the Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. No one in the field of human rights believed him, and today he is again the obvious suspect according to campaigners mourning the death of Politkovskaya's friend Natalia Estemirova.
Oleg Orlov, chairman of Memorial, the Russian human rights group for whom Estemirova worked in the Chechen capital Grozny, documenting abuses by law enforcement agencies, said yesterday: "I know, I am sure of it, who is guilty for the murder of Natalia... His name is Ramzan Kadyrov."
In a statement posted on Memorial's website, www.memo.ru, he claimed: "Ramzan already threatened Natalia, insulted her, considered her a personal enemy."
The nature of the 50-year-old's death was brutal and unsubtle. She was dragged from her home in Grozny on Wednesday morning by four men, shouting to neighbours: "I'm being kidnapped", bundled into a van and driven off.
Hours later, her body was found dumped on the main road near the village of Gazi-Yurt in neighbouring Ingushetia. She had been shot twice in the head.
Estemirova, who leaves a 15-year-old daughter, was a close friend of Politkovskaya, collaborating with the journalist on several investigations into human rights abuses in Chechnya. Both were very open in their condemnation of President Kadyrov...
Full article at
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/50728,news,human-rights-campaigner-natalia- estemirova-murder-fingers-point-at-president-ramzan-kadyrov
Chris Doss wrote:
> There's a big Interfax report on the murder with reactions from Memorial and
> Kadyrov here: http://www.interfax.ru/politics/txt.asp?id=90382
>
> I'm not going to translate it, but a machine translation should give you the
> gist.
>
> --- On Wed, 7/15/09, Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk]
>> Russian/Chechen/Ingush To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Date: Wednesday, July 15,
>> 2009, 8:16 PM
>>
>> I just read an Interfax report of an Ingush politician saying this might be
>> an attempt to spark off a conflict between the Chechens and the Ingush
>> (more specifically, restart the conflict that occured in the early 90s when
>> Chechnya broke off from Ingushetia). Dunno how much truth there is in
>> that, or even who the politician was.
>>
>> It is kind of odd that she was abducted in Chechnya and then quickly found
>> in an easily discovered location in Ingushetia. Why the hell did they move
>> her across the border?
>>
>> I'll get to work on the article!
>>
>> --- On Wed, 7/15/09, C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> From: C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk]
>>> Russian/Chechen/Ingush To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Date: Wednesday, July
>>> 15, 2009, 7:57 PM I assume you mean the attack on Yevkurov. It would be
>>> a help. There's not been much coverage here. My Midwest public TV show
>>> would be one of the few discussing it, I'm sure... --CGE