15:00, 25 September 2009

Journalists lack seats in courtroom at Kadyrov vs. Orlov case

Today, the Tver Court of Moscow has held its first hearing on the merits of the claim of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", on defence of honour, dignity and business reputation. The claim stems from Mr Orlov's statement that President of Chechnya is responsible for the kidnapping in Chechnya and murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova.

Over 30 media people tried to get to the session; however, many of them could not do it - no seats. The trial is run by Judge Tatiana Fedosova, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Earlier, Anna Stavitskaya, Orlov's advocate, said that the sessions would be open. "There are no grounds for holding it in the closed regime," she said.

Author: Alexander Baklanov

Source: CK correspondent