Armed masked assailants in the Russian province of Chechnya attacked and brutally beat a prominent investigative reporter and a lawyer on Tuesday, an assault that highlighted a violent pattern of rampant human rights abuses in the region.
Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov had just arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities. Just outside the airport, their vehicle was blocked by several cars and they were attacked by the assailants who beat them with clubs, put guns to their heads and broke their equipment.
Novaya Gazeta said Milashina sustained a brain injury and had several fingers broken, and Nemov had a deep cut on his leg. Milashina in a video said the attack looked like a “classic abduction.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “it was a very serious assault that warrants energetic steps” from law enforcement agencies.
Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov had just arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities. Just outside the airport, their vehicle was blocked by several cars and they were attacked by the assailants who beat them with clubs, put guns to their heads and broke their equipment.
Novaya Gazeta said Milashina sustained a brain injury and had several fingers broken, and Nemov had a deep cut on his leg. Milashina in a video said the attack looked like a “classic abduction.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “it was a very serious assault that warrants energetic steps” from law enforcement agencies.