Well-known Russian human rights defenders have appealed to the Ombudsman in the Russian Federation, and the Chairwoman of the Civil Society Institution and Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, protesting the opening of criminal investigations into the NGO “Voice of Beslan” on charges of extremism. (16-JAN-08)

Written by Inna Komar/Human Rights House, Moscow
Sources: http://www.hro.org, http://www.golosbeslana.ru,  http://www.lenta.ru, http://www.examiner.com

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9 January 2008 prosecutors of Nazran (Ingushetiya) opened a criminal case against ´Voice of Beslan´ on charges of posting extremist material on its web-site. Last year, the Russian Federation passed a new law on extremism. If the court of Nazran finds the organization guilty, it will be shut down. The “extremist” material was published on ´Voice of Beslan´s website´ in 2005, where it was said that “the world political elite supports our president who became the guarantor for criminals”.

Support ´Voice of Beslan´
Russian human rights defenders are convinced, that such measures return us to the times of prosecutions for anti-Soviet statements and consider these actions of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic Ingushetiya as a demonstration of state extremism. Ukranian human rights defenders have initiated an international campaign in support of the pursued organization.

To send a message of solidarity to Voice of Beslan, use golosbeslana@mail.ru.

The Irish human rights organization ´Front Line Defenders´ has also expressed its support. Front Line demands to take all possible measures to guarantee physical and psychological security for the members of ´Voice of Beslan´.

Background
“Voice of Beslan” was created on 25 September, 2005. It was established after the Beslan tragedy on 1 September, 2004, when terrorists kept a whole school hostage for several days. More than 365 people were killed, half of them children. The organization blames President Vladimir Putin for the massacre.

9 – 19 February 2006, six members of “Voice of Beslan” held a 10-day hunger strike to draw attention to their claims that authorities were covering up the truth about the Beslan attack. In December 2007, the organization was liquidated by the Supreme court of Northern Ossetia on the basis of a statement from another public organization calling itself by the same name. However, the Supreme Court of the Republic has suspended its decision to come into force.