30 June 2004, 15:14
Russian rights campaigners to monitor Chechen elections
Russian human rights campaigners will monitor the Chechen presidential election campaign, Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva told on Tuesday. "We will monitor the Chechen elections, but we do not intend to send observers for them," Alekseyeva said, adding that the human rights situation in Chechnya remains tense. Observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will also likely not be present at the presidential elections in Chechnya. The assembly is considering sending several people to Chechnya to gather information on the election process, but there will be no delegation of PACE observers at the Chechen elections, PACE rapporteur on Russia, Rudolph Bindig, said in a recent interview. The Chechen presidential elections were called after Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in a terrorist bombing in Grozny on May 9, 2004. The elections are scheduled for August 29, 2004. To date, 17 people have declared their intention to run for the Chechen presidency.
Source: Interfax News Agency
