Russia: Continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Oyub Titiev

The Observatory has documented through its international trial observers about the continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Oyub Titiev, Head of the Human Rights Center (HRC) "Memorial" office in Chechnya.

According to the information received, on March 11, 2019, during the closing arguments, the Prosecutor requested the Shalinsky Court to find Mr. Oyub Titiev guilty of drug possession in large amount (Article 228 of the Criminal Code) and to sentence him to four years in prison (including time already served) and a fine of 100,000 Roubles (approximately 1,350 Euros). The verdict is expected on March 18, 2019.

During the hearing, to which the Observatory had sent representatives, Mr. Oyub Titiev appeared in a metal cage.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Oyub Titiev was arrested January 9, 2018 and his trial started on July 19, 2018 [1].

The Observatory strongly condemns the continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Oyub Titiev, which seems to be only aimed at sanctioning him for his legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory calls on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him and end any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him and all the human rights defenders in the country.

Background information:

In the morning of January 9, 2018, Mr. Oyub Titiev left his home in the village of Kurchaloi, in the Chechen Republic, to head to a meeting with a friend scheduled at 9am and subsequently to the office of HRC "Memorial" in Grozny. Mr. Titiev being more than one hour late for the meeting with a friend whose identity is not being revealed on purpose, the latter spotted Mr. Titiev on a road between the villages Kurchaloi and Mairtup, next to the bridge on the river Khumyk. Next to Mr. Titiev were five-six traffic police officers inspecting his car. Mr. Titiev gave his friend a sign not to approach him, and after the both cars left - that of Titiev and the second belonging to the traffic police - he headed to the Kurchaloi District Department of Internal Affairs supposing Mr. Titiev would be taken there. Although he was not allowed to enter the District Department of Internal Affairs, Mr. Titiev’s car present outside and unofficial sources allowed him to assume Mr. Titiev’s detention.

Despite repeated calls, the District Department officially kept denying Mr. Titiev’s presence. If Mr. Titiev’s detention was not officially confirmed by the authorities until seven hours after his detention when Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Interior of the Chechen Republic Apti Alaudinov confirmed to the Russian Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova that Mr. Titiev was being kept in Kurchaloi police station. Several hours later, Mr. Titiev’s lawyer confirmed that his client was charged under Article 228 of the Criminal Code possessing drugs in large amounts.

On January 17, 2018, at 3.35 am, the CCTV camera of the HRC “Memorial” office recorded two young men, wearing masks and gloves, one of whom was carrying a canister. The arsonists put a ladder to the roof of the building and climbed to the second floor of the office. The attackers also attempted to break one of the CCTV video cameras installed on the building on their way to the window of HRC “Memorial”’s office. The camera also recorded the rapid departure of the two arsonists. Fortunately, the two attackers could only access three of the six rooms. The fire brigade arrived quickly at the scene and extinguished the fire but not before three of the office’s six rooms were burnt, destroying electronic equipment and documents. The remains of a melted plastic bottle with the smell of kerosene were found in the office of HRC “Memorial” Ingushetia office’s Head Mr. Timur Akiev.

Furthermore, on January 15 and 16, 2018, Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of HRC “Memorial” Council, lawyer Petr Zaikin and journalists who were in Chechnya to investigate the case of Mr. Titiev were subjected to constant surveillance of local law-enforcement bodies. For two days, the group was detained five times allegedly for verification of their involvement with illegal armed groups.

Mr. Titiev’s family members were threatened by law enforcement authorities and consequently left Chechnya in late January 2018. Likewise, one of Mr. Titiev’s lawyers, Mr. Aslan Telkhigov, was allegedly forced to resign from Mr. Titiev’s defence team and to leave Chechnya in late January 2018.

On January 22, 2018, HRC Memorial’s car, used by one of Mr. Titiev’s lawyers, Mr. Petr Zaikin, was set on fire in neighbouring Dagestan. In addition, on February 5, 2018, Chechen authorities ordered residents of several private houses, including Mr. Titiev’s, to leave their house within a week. Houses will be demolished to build a shopping center.

On March 6, 2018, the Staropromyslovsky District Court in Grozny rejected an appeal filed against the pre-trial detention order and extended Mr. Oyub Titiev’s pre-trial detention for another two months, until May 9, 2018, despite the fact that two guarantors pledged for a “personal vouch” [2].

On March 19, 2018, Chechnya’s Supreme Court confirmed Mr. Oyub Titiev’s pre-trial detention until May 9, 2018, despite arguments from his lawyers that the extension of his pre-trial detention is baseless. During the hearing, Mr. Oyub Titiev appeared in cage.