Office of human rights NGO in Ingushetia searched

An unauthorized search was conducted in the office of a Chechen public and human rights organization in Ingushetia at about 6 a.m. today.

Members of the Institute of Political Culture "Lamast" who were present in their office on Kostoyeva Street in the Sleptsovskaya village during the search said that about 20 unknown masked men wearing camouflage had broken into their office and started searching there.

"Without identifying themselves and presenting a search warrant, they carried out a real raid. They made us lie with faces down. They rummaged through all papers and switched on our computer. They were interrogating Lamast director Lyoma Shakhmurzayev," a Lamast member said.

According to neighbors, there were at least 20 men involved in the operation, who arrived in two vehicles.

Shakhmurzayev's fellow human rights defenders think that the search was motivated by Lamast's activities. "Lyoma Shakhmurzayev is known as an author of one of the plans of peace resolution of the conflict in Chechnya. He has met many Russian politicians, as well as representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria due to it," says Ruslan Zhadayev of the Council of NGOs, the member of which Lamast was.

"Last December the head of the Ingush Migration Service, Ivan Pomeschenko, threatened to get Chechen human rights defenders. It's possible that his plan began to materialize," Zhadayev holds.