Chechen human rights defenders state kidnapping of two local NGO activists

Human rights defenders of Chechnya have stated kidnapping of two activists of the local NGO named "Save the Generation" - the NGO leader Zarema Sadulaeva and her husband.

Let us remind you that in Chechnya kidnappings continue. The last fact was made public by Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the network "Migration and Law" of the HRC "Memorial", who has reported that on July 19 Islam Kozloev was kidnapped from his house in Grozny.

The "Interfax" was informed by Alexander Cherkasov, a member of the Board of the Russian HRC "Memorial", that at about 2:00 p.m. today in Grozny unknown armed persons abducted the leader of the youth NGO "Save the Generation" Zarema Sadulaeva and her husband.

He said that after the incident human rights activists addressed the law enforcement bodies. "The people who kidnapped Sadulaeva and her husband failed to present themselves or present any documents. They just took them away in an unknown direction; then, they got back to the office of the NGO, and took away the mobile phone and the car of Sadulaeva's husband," Mr Cherkasov has added.

He said later on air of the "Echo Moskvy" Radio that their whereabouts were not known, same as the agency that had kidnapped them.

Alexander Cherkasov told journalists that the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and FSB had been informed about the incident. However, a source among law enforcers said that it was too early to state the kidnapping of the human rights activist and her husband. "According to eyewitnesses, Sadulaeva and her husband took the car by their own, no force was applied to them," the source has explained.