Repeated detentions of relatives of killed militants undertaken in Chechnya

Tonight, relatives of the young people, killed in the counterterrorist operation (CTO) in Grozny, were urgently summoned to the police. Earlier, these relatives had been detained for a week and then released. For a few hours they are kept by the police, said their relatives.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 17 several attacks on policemen were committed in Grozny. Seven suspected militants were killed during a CTO on December 18, four others were detained. Power agents also began detaining casualties' relatives and friends. According to Akhmed Gisaev, the head of the Human Rights Analysis Centre, the total number of detainees exceeded 100 people; and at night on December 25 they were set free.

According to detainees' relatives, they were not charged. Earlier, Gisaev said about the application of the principle of collective responsibility of people for the deeds of their relatives.

According to the relatives of the suspected militants killed in Grozny, tonight "their relatives were called and asked to urgently come to the ROVD (District Interior Division)."

According to another local woman, her relative, who was among those detained and released last Saturday from the police station, "also received a call to his mobile phone and asked to come to the ROVD."

A source from a local NGO has confirmed the information about the repeated detention of relatives of the young people killed in Grozny.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.