Helsinki and Stockholm host actions in commemoration of deportation of Chechens and Ingushes in 1944

At the picket on February 23 at the Russian Embassy in Finland, dated to the 67th anniversary of deportation of Chechens and Ingushes to Middle Asia and Kazakhstan, the Finnish pastor Yukho Molari provoked the audience to break the public order. This was reported by Elena Maglevannaya, a journalist and a human rights activist. On the same day a similar action dated to the anniversary of deportation of Caucasian nations was also held in Stockholm.

According to Elena Maglevannaya, who wrote about torture of North-Caucasian prisoners in Russian prisons and was granted in late 2010 her political asylum in Finland, despite the fact that the action in Helsinki was not populous, people still do not forget about the date of deportation.

The organizer of the picket was the Finnish-Chechen Society (Suomi-Tsetsenia Seura). It was attended by the Chechens and Ingushes living in Finland. They held banners in Russian and English: "Stop justification of Russians' crimes against Caucasian nations", "1864 - deportation in Tsarist Russia; 1944 - deportation in Stalin's Russia, 1999 - deportation in Putin's Russia", "European Parliament recognized Chechens' deportation as genocide", said Elena Maglevannaya.

She added that nobody went out to the picketers from the Embassy.

At the very picket, as she noted, the Finnish pastor Yukho Molari, known in Finland for his harsh statements against refugees from North-Caucasian republics of Russia, provoked the protesters to break the public order.

"At first, he kept walking around us in circles, taking pictures and waving his cell phone, from which the Russian national anthem was heard. At the same time he was shouting something in the Finnish language not very clearly; as I was told later - that he loves Russia and Putin. Two bands attached to his jacket fluttered in the wind - the St George's one and with colours of the Russian banner," she said.

The action dedicated to the 67th anniversary of deportation of Caucasian nations in the Soviet Union, held on February 23 in central Stockholm, was attended by about 50 persons. The action was organized by the Swedish Committee for Chechnya and the Vainakh Diaspora in Sweden with the support of the Georgian Association in Sweden and was held in the Mynttorget (Mint Square) of the capital, between the riksdag and the royal palace.

Most of the audience were Chechens and Ingushes; besides, also Georgians took part (more than ten persons) and Azerbaijanis. The action was decorated by more than 15 banners, mostly of the unrecognized Ichkeria. There were also several Georgian and Azerbaijani flags and the anarchic black one.

The "Caucasian Knot" was informed by Pyotr Rausch, one of the leaders of the anarchist movement of St Petersburg, that the sound-amplification equipment was used, which broadcast Chechen songs. The speakers were Johan Lagerfeldt, Chairman of the Swedish Committee for Chechnya; Mairbek Taramov, Director of the Chechen Human Rights Centre; one of the MPs from the Left-Wing Party in the Swedish parliament; and a member of the Chechen community of Stockholm.

The action lasted for about 1.5 hours and passed without any incidents and provocations.