12:14, 10 December 2018

AI's Secretary General supports Oyub Titiev

Kumi Naidoo. Photo: screenshot https://twitter.com/kuminaidoo/status/1071848070122491905?s=12

On the eve of the court session, scheduled for December 10, on the case of Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", Kumi Naidoo, the Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI), spoke in Oyub's support. He posted in the Twitter his photo in a T-shirt with Titiev's portrait and called on the authorities of Russia and Chechnya to release the human rights defender.

"Oyub Titiev didn’t feel safe for a single day during the 17 years, when he fought for human rights in Chechnya. I'm in solidarity with him and urge the Russian President and the Chechen Prosecutor's Office to release Oyub!" wrote Mr Naidoo.

The date of the court session on Titiev's case coincides with the 70th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said Marie Struthers, the AI's Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Caucasian Knot has reported that since January 11, 2018, Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the HRC "Memorial", has been under arrest on charges of drug possession. The trial began on July 19 at the Shali City Court.

Earlier, the AI posted on its website an appeal to support the campaign in defence of Oyub Titiev. Human rights defenders offered to send letters demanding to release Titiev to the President and the General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, as well as to the Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 10, 2018 at 04:04 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.