Natalya Estemirova
Natalya Estemirova | |
---|---|
Наталья Эстемирова | |
Grozny University | |
Occupation(s) | Human rights activist, journalist, teacher |
Board member of | Memorial (society) |
Awards |
Natalya Khusainovna Estemirova (
Biography
Born in
Estemirova was a frequent contributor to the independent Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Caucasus news website Kavkazsky Uzel.[8]
Estemirova received the
Assassination
Estemirova was abducted on 15 July 2009 from her home in Grozny, Chechnya. According to Tanya Lokshina of the Moscow bureau of Human Rights Watch, unknown individuals abducted Estemirova near her house in Grozny at around 8:30 a.m. Her colleagues raised an alert when she did not come to a planned meeting and went to her home, found witnesses and questioned them.[14] Two witnesses reportedly saw Estemirova being pushed into a car shouting that she was being abducted. Lokshina said Estemirova was abducted as she was working on "extremely sensitive" cases of human rights abuses in Chechnya. Lokshina said that she had been targeted for her professional activities. Human Rights Watch had demanded to the Kremlin and Ramzan Kadyrov that Estemirova be returned home safely.[15]
Vladimir Markin, press secretary for the investigative committee of the
Funeral
Estemirova was "buried in line with Islamic tradition before sunset on Thursday, in a cemetery in her ancestral village, Koshkeldy, in Chechnya's Gudermes district."[18]
About 150 people attended a
Response
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, stationed in Moscow, reported that Estemirova was engaged in "very important and dangerous work", investigating hundreds of cases of alleged kidnappings, torture and extrajudicial killings by Russian government troops or paramilitaries in Chechnya.[14]
In January 2010, Ramzan Kadyrov, in an interview to
Estemirova's murder was provoked by the people who murdered Politkovskaya and Litvinenko. I am pretty sure that that's Berezovsky's job. Politkovskaya was speaking about Chechnya all the time. When everything became fine in our republic, and there was nothing to blame us for, was the perfect time to kill her and shift the blame on Kadyrov to undermine the system.
Medvedev responded to the accusation, saying the timing of the crime, a day before his trip to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, was a provocation intended to give rise to "the most primitive theories and those most disagreeable to the state".[21] Merkel said she expressed her "outrage" over the killing in her talks with Medvedev "and made clear that everything must be done to solve this crime".
The Sweden-based human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders named the Natalia Project after Estemirova. The Natalia Project is an alarm and positioning system for human rights defenders at risk.[29]
Investigation
In February 2010, an anonymous source in the Russian law enforcement bodies claimed that investigators knew Estemirova's murderer. Yet, the murderer wasn't caught, nor was the organizer of the crime identified.[30][31][32]
Journalists of
According to the official investigators, Bashayev was trying to smear Kadyrov and the leadership of the Chechen Republic, and he might also have been upset by publications by Estemirova where she had alleged that Bashayev had been recruiting for the rebel group without any opposition of the officials and suggested that he might be an agent for
According to the official information, on 13 November 2009, Bashayev was killed by an air strike during a special operation led by Adam Delimkhanov.[33]
Novaya Gazeta journalists and human rights activists disagree with the conclusions of the investigators and suspect a massive cover-up:[33]
- The DNA analysisof materials found on the crime scene is not matched to Alkhazur Bashayev or his relatives.
- The relations between Bashayev and official Kadyrovtsy are very dubious.
- The killing of Bashayev is not proven. Quite possible that he is alive and the information of his deaths were cover-up.
- It is probable that the handgun was put into Bashayev's house after Bashayev's death.
See also
- List of journalists killed in Russia
- Freedom of the press in Russia
- Media freedom in Russia
- Russian mafia
References
- ^ "Russian activist Natalya Estemirova found dead", The Daily Telegraph, 15 July 2009
- ^ a b c Kremlin tribute to dead activist, BBC News, 16 July 2009
- ^ a b "Obituary: Natalia Estemirova". BBC News. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- Putin must go, 15 July 2011. Originally published in a newspaper by За права человека, October 2009
- ^ Estemirova obituary in Novaya Gazeta (Russian) Archived 14 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (in Russian) Natalya Estemirova bio at Moscow-based Human Rights Online
- ^ Estemirova biography, Caucasian Knot, Memorial, computer translation
- ^ Natalya Estemirova, Committee to protect Journalists (CPJ)
- Group of the European People's Party, European Parliament, Strasbourg, 13 January 2005.
- ^ "Mairead Maguire Presents RAW in WAR Anna Award to Natalia Estemirova". Nobel Women's Initiative. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
- ^ "We want justice for Natasha". Reach All Women in War. 15 July 2009.
- ^ (in Russian)Natalya Estemirova: "It is time to bring the original sense back to many words"[permanent dead link], interview with Nadezhda Ilyina, Journalist, issue 2, February 2008, computer translation
- ^ Feraposhkin, Vyacheslav (15 July 2009). "Natalya Estemirova: "I'm sure that human rights defenders are murdered on authorities' blessing"". Caucasian Knot. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
- ^ a b c "Russian activist found murdered", BBC News, 15 July 2009.
- ^ Human rights worker abducted in Chechnya, reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Aydar Buribayev, editing by Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 15 July 2009
- ^ (in Russian)"A reverberating murder", Interfax, 16 July 2009 (computer translation)
- Newsru.com, 15 July 2009 (computer translation)
- ^ "Kremlin tribute to dead activist". 16 July 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Vigil for Russia activist ends in clashes, arrest[dead link]. The Washington Post. 24 July 2009
- ^ Kremlin tribute to dead activist Retrieved 16 July 2009.
- ^ a b c "Russia Rights Group Blames 'State Terror' for Killing" Retrieved 16 July 2009.
- ^ (in Russian)The Memorial society on the murder of Natalia Estemirova Archived 18 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, 15 July 2009, computer translation
- ^ According to Orlov, "Я знаю, я уверен в том, кто виновен в убийстве Наташи Эстемировой. Мы все этого человека знаем. Зовут его Рамзан Кадыров, это президент Чеченской республики.
- ^ [1], "Она рассказывала, что Кадыров ей угрожал, говорил буквально: "Да, у меня руки по локоть в крови. И я не стыжусь этого. Я убивал и буду убивать плохих людей."
- ^ Chechen leader sues rights group after activist murder Google News. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ Kadyrov's interview at Russia Today (in English), Chechnya.Gov.Ru (in Russian) Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ban appalled at murder of Russian rights activist". Press Trust of India. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.[permanent dead link].
- EPP Group, Antoine Ripoll, EPP Chairman's spokesman, 15 July 2009.
- ^ "Natalia Project — Civil Rights Defenders". Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Murder of Estemirova is solved, by Lenta.Ru, February 2010 (in Russian)
- ^ Human rights defenders refuted solution of Estemirova's case, Lenta.Ru (in Russian)
- NYT
- ^ a b c d e "ДВА ГОДА ПОСЛЕ УБИЙСТВА НАТАЛЬИ ЭСТЕМИРОВОЙ: СЛЕДСТВИЕ ИДЕТ ПО ЛОЖНОМУ ПУТИ". Novaya Gazeta (75). July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
External links
- Natalya Estemirova' biography on the occasion of receiving the Robert Schuman Medal, EPP Group, 2005
- Natalya Estemirova's statement on the killing of Zura Bitieva and her family, September 2003
- Natalia Estemirova and the Price of Courage, Robert Amsterdam's blog
- Natalya Estemirova and the Anna Politkovskaya Award
Articles
- Chechnya Stricken by ТВ[permanent dead link], Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Caucasus Reporting Service 180, 22 May 2003
- Chechnya: Amnesty Fails to Inspire, Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Caucasus Reporting Service 191, 14 August 2003
- with Aslambek Badilayev: Grozny Returnees Remain Penniless, Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Caucasus Reporting Service 237, 9 June 2004
- with Musa Musayev: Chechnya: Fleeing Villagers Protest, Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Caucasus Reporting Service 293, 30 June 2005
- Estemirova, Natalya (4 October 2007). "The Courage of Anna Politkovskaya". The Nation (22 October 2007). Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- Chechen Activist to Victim Video by New York Times; produced by Emily B. Hager