Russian court rules to free Chechen human rights advocate Oyub Titiev
- Country:
- Russian Federation
Titiev, 61, is expected to be released next week. "The verdict will come into force in ten days," Memorial tweeted after a judge read out the decision. The court hearing on his early release petition was held at the penal colony.
Titiev was arrested early last year. Under Russian law, a prisoner can ask for an early release if convicted under an offence qualifying as non-serious and if more than a third of jail term has been served, which Titiev has done, given time served before his sentencing. Before his arrest, Titiev led a team that reported disappearances, torture, and punitive house burnings in Chechnya.
The majority Muslim republic of Chechnya is governed by Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Human rights workers accuse Kadyrov of widespread abuses in the region, allegations he denies. Kadyrov's supporters credit him with bringing relative calm and stability to a region dogged for years by a simmering insurgency following two wars between Moscow and separatists after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.
Kadyrov, who earlier supported Titiev's arrest, welcomed the court decision about his release. "If a court found it possible to release Titiev earlier, I am sure that all the circumstances were studied and an objective decision was made," Kadyrov said in a statement. (Reporting by Said Tsarnayev Writing by Maria Tsvetkova Editing by John Stonestreet and Frances Kerry)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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