Natalia Estemirova's colleagues share memories on 10th anniversary of her murder

On the 10th anniversary of the murder of Natalia Estemirova, human rights defenders reminded that even in the realities of Chechnya, she managed to find the opportunity not only to report about rights violations, but also to help the victims. The activists demanded from the authorities to complete the investigation into the murder of Natalia Estemirova.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a staff member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny, was kidnapped, taken to Ingushetia, and killed. She actively spoke out against kidnappings, extrajudicial executions, and falsifications of criminal cases.

On July 12, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Natalia Estemirova's murder, the "Amnesty International" (AI) posted on its YouTube channel the video with memories voiced by colleagues and relatives of the murdered journalist. "She was not only a human rights defender in the narrow sense of the word. I would say broader: she was a public defender," said Oleg Orlov, the head of the "Hot Spots" programme of the HRC "Memorial".

"Natalia Estemirova helped a lot of people. She did not just collect information, but she provided real help to the people," confirmed Timur Akiev, the head of the HRC "Memorial" office in Ingushetia.

Today, on the 10th anniversary of the Natalia Estemirova's murder, ten international and three Russian human rights organizations, including the HRC "Memorial", the "Committee Against Torture" (CaT), and the "Public Verdict" Foundation, appealed to the Russian authorities with the demand to effectively investigate the murder of the human rights defender.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 15, 2019 at 00:04 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.