Russian investigative journalist Elena Milashinarecognized for her denunciations against the security forces in Chechnyawas brutally attacked when she was heading precisely to that Russian republic of the Caucasus to cover a high-level trial.
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“Elena Milashina sometimes loses consciousness,” the NGO Memorial said in a statement on Tuesday, “her entire body is covered in bruises.”
The car containing the journalist and her lawyer Alexander Nemov was attacked by “armed men” on the road from the airport to the Chechen capital Grozny.
They brutally beat them with kicks, including to the face, and threatened to kill them with a gun to their heads.
“They brutally beat them with kicks, even to the face, they threatened to kill them with a gun to their heads” while saying “get out of here and don’t write anything,” the same source said.
In a video, Milashina was seen lying in a hospital bed recounting her ordeal.
“They forcibly removed the driver and got into the taxi. They lowered our heads, tied my hands, and put us on our knees with a gun to our heads,” he said. “They did it all nervously. They didn’t manage to tie my hands well,” he added.
The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) declared itself “appalled by this savage aggression.”
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the attack. “This is a very serious attack that requires strong measures,” Peskov added.
Elena Milashina aroused the ire of the Chechen authorities for documenting extrajudicial killings. In February 2022, she had to temporarily leave Russia, according to her newspaper, after threats from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who called her a “terrorist”.
The courage and work of the Russian journalist Elena Milashina has been key in denouncing different human rights violations in Chechnya. From this side of the world all the solidarity and strength with her. #NoEsHoraDeCallar @CPJAmericas https://t.co/GAhs0GU9xy
— Jineth Bedoya Lima (@jbedoyalima) July 5, 2023
The journalist promises to return to Chechnya
Shortly after the attack became known, Elena published a video in which she recounted details of how the events occurred and promised to return to Chechnya to carry out her work.“Of course I will go (to Grozny),” says Milashina in a video released by Sergei Babinets, head of the Team Against Torture.
They knew what they were doing and they were in a hurry. They had a time limit
At the same time, the reporter for the newspaper Nóvaya Gazeta, outlawed in Russia, assures that before traveling she will notify the Chechnya Ombudsman, who has promised to guarantee her safety during new visits to the region.
According to Milashina, the attackers, between 10 and 15 people, “knew what they wanted and knew their limits.”
The reporter believes that some of them were able to travel with her and Nemov on the plane from Moscow. Milashina and Nemov hailed a taxi from Grozny airport which was followed by three cars with about “about four people in each”.
The attackers’ vehicles intercepted the taxi and then took its two passengers out of the car, who were beaten and threatened to have their fingers cut off in a ravine.
“They knew what they were doing and they were in a hurry. They had a time limit,” said Milashina, who added that despite what the doctors had said at first, her fingers, hit during the attack, are not broken.
“They did not touch the money or the bank cards, that did not interest them. They were only interested in the (computer) equipment and the documents,” he said. The masked men shaved Milashina and sprayed her head with a green antiseptic, while Némov suffered a knife wound to the leg.
Russian People’s Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova spoke to Milashina by phone and promised that the attack would be investigated in a “thorough” manner. “Those responsible must be punished,” she said.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
*With Efe and AFP
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