Ingushetia.org, the independent news website, is one of the few if not the only media outlet in the Russian Federation that can claim to have overthrown an unpopular regional president. This could have been regarded as a huge success story if not for the price they had to pay: two owners shot dead and an editor-in-chief in exile. Last week’s killing of Maksharip Aushev, a businessman and long-time opposition leader, who took over the website after its first owner Magomed Yevloyev was shot dead in August 2008, showed once again the cost of the freedom of expression in this North Caucasian republic.

Becoming engaged in politics
Maksharip Aushev was not a professional politician. He became engaged in politics after a “death squad” abducted his nephew Magomed on June 17, 2007. Magomed was taken out to the forest, tortured by being shot point-blank while standing in a waist-deep hole (first being outfitted with two bulletproof vests), and then freed upon signing an agreement of cooperation. Instead of cooperating, Magomed submitted a written statement to the prosecutor’s office.

After that, Magomed was of course doomed, and was abducted once again on September 18, 2007. As he had been together in the car with Maksharip’s son – his cousin – both were abducted.

They were tortured for several hours in the Chechnyan village of Goyty, and afterwards brought to the mountains for “snickers” – a practice in which a murdered corpse is bound with explosives and blown up; animals eat up the scattered pieces of meat, and the person disappears without a trace.

While they were being tortured, however, Maksharip assembled a rally in the city of Nazran. The authorities spooked and freed the Aushev boys.

In the Caucasus, where yesterday’s terrorists now lead anti-terrorism detachments, where family ties mean more than beliefs, and reputation means even more than family ties, Maksharip was one of the central figures in negotiations between the authorities and the militants; or at that time, between the authorities and the people.

Paying price for dissidence
Mr. Aushev had survived a kidnapping attempt in September. His colleagues said he remained at odds with Mr. Zyazikov’s relatives and continued to criticize the tactics of Russian special forces stationed in the region.

Mr. Aushev is the third human rights figure killed in the North Caucasus in the last four months, amid a sharp increase in overall violence. In July, Natalya Estemirova, who documented abductions and killings in the Chechen Republic, was forced into a car and found by a roadside hours later. In August, Zarema Sadulayeva, who ran a charity, was found shot dead in the trunk of her car after being seized in her office.

Official versions
The Russian Investigations Committee came out with different versions of the motivations for the murder, including connections with criminal businessmen and revenge over a relationship with a woman, who was sitting in Aushev’s car at the time of the attack. She was seriously injured, and, though she recently regained conscious, doctors say she is still not well enough to testify.

But the majority of observers and human rights activists believe it is clear this murder was related to Maksharip’s political activities.