19/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – “The shocking testimonies revealed by Novaya Gazeta about extrajudicial executions and other grave human rights violations committed in Chechnya over the last years warrant an immediate, impartial, and independent investigation by the Russian federal investigative authorities into such violations. All individuals proved to be involved in those abhorrent crimes should be brought to justice regardless of the official status they may have”, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights said today. Dunja Mijatović reacted to an article of 15 March presenting the testimony of a repentant policeman who details the abuses committed by the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s guard. This policeman and the editorial staff of Novaya Gazeta (of which Anna Politkovskaya was a member, murdered in 2006) have been the subject of serious threats since this publication. Link to the Declaration: https://bit.ly/3cSMauG (VL)