Nothing is known in the Kremlin about the proposal of the Ombudsman of Chechnya Mansur Soltaev to exclude human rights activist Igor Kalyapin from the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, Soltaev’s appeal was “not noticed.” Peskov reminded that the decision to expel from the HRC is made only at the presidential level.
Earlier, a member of the Human Rights Council, Igor Kalyapin, said that he sees a threat to his security after the statements of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who called him a “terrorist.” However, Kalyapin did not turn to law enforcement agencies about this, as he considers this appeal unpromising and does not want to waste time. Shortly before that, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov called “terrorists” HRC member Igor Kalyapin and Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina. According to Kadyrov, they “make money on the theme of the Chechen Republic and the Chechens.”
Pavel Gusev, head of the HRC commission on freedom of information and journalists’ rights, chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moscow and editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets, said that the federal authorities should respond to this statement.