11 December 2018, 19:03
"Legal Initiative" receives threats after "honour killings" report
Saida Sirazhudinova, a co-author of the "Legal Initiative" report on "honour killings" in Northern Caucasus, decided not to go to the police in connection with the fact that she was openly watched in the Moscow metro. The activist has stated she continues to work as usual. Meanwhile, a leader of the "Legal Initiative" receives messages that can be regarded as threats, reports the press secretary of the "Legal Initiative".
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 9, three days after the publication of the "Legal Initiative" report on "honour killings" in Northern Caucasus, Saida Sirazhudinova, a co-author of the research, noticed she was openly watched in the Moscow metro.
On December 6, the "Legal Initiative" published its report "Killed by Gossip. Honour Killings of Women in Northern Caucasus". According to rights defenders, in the period from 2008 to 2017, there were 33 such cases, as a result of which 39 people were killed, including 36 women and three men.
The case of demonstrative chase of the co-author in the report on "honour killings" was the first after the publication of the research, Saida Sirazhudinova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
"Although I don't think this is a direct threat. It looks like psychological terror. Besides, my colleagues got strange calls. We can only guess who is a source of the pressure. Without knowing for sure, I can't say anything about that," said Saida Sirazhudinova. She has noted that the authors of the report did not receive any threats.
According to the activist, she did not file a complaint to the police in connection with the open surveillance. Saida Sirazhudinova has noted she believes that would be "senseless."
The information about the "strange calls" addressed to one of the leaders of the "Legal Initiative" was confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ksenia Babich, the press secretary of the organization.
According to her, the leader treated those "strange calls" as a threat aimed to frighten people related to the report.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 11, 2018 at 03:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent