Journalist Milashina, who became a victim of an attack in Chechnya, has not even been interrogated yet

A week has passed since the attack (poured with brilliant green, shaved bald, beaten with clubs and legs, broken arms) in Chechnya on journalist Yelena Milashina. For her and everyone who was worried about her – infinitely long. For the investigation, probably one moment. How else to explain the fact that it has not advanced even a millimeter.

Neither Elena nor the lawyer Alexander Nemov (he was with her, was stabbed) was not even questioned. Couldn’t the Chechen security forces find them in a Moscow hospital? No one from the investigation team (and that one seemed to have been created immediately after the incident) called the journalist’s phone. Didn’t find time?

Initially, many doubted the objectivity of the investigation of this case by Chechen law enforcement officers. But you always want to believe in the best. Including the fact that we will introduce and adopt a draft law prepared by us against the backdrop of what is happening on criminal punishment for obstructing the practice of law.

Zelenka will wash off over time, hair will grow back, bruises will come off, muscles will stop hurting. Elena’s hands are the worst. As she herself says, “the left one is not good at all.” 14 wrist fractures, two displaced. And this is only preliminary – until the swelling subsides, it is impossible to accurately examine all these small bones. Hopefully, there will be no surgery.

It is important for a journalist to keep his head intact. The footage in which Elena fell in the hospital corridor scared many. But Milashina says that on the same day by the evening she felt better. The concussion seemed to go without consequences. MRI of the head showed that everything is in order.

But what about mental wounds, that is, psychological trauma?

No matter how courageous and strong any journalist may be, it is hard to even imagine how he would feel kneeling with his hands tied in front of bandits with pistols and clubs. And then there’s a girl. And she, helpless, healthy men in camouflage beat, shave … Those who did this thought to disgrace Elena, but in the end they showed the whole world that they themselves were without honor and conscience.

The journalist nevertheless speaks about them without a hint of hatred or malice.

– The essence of the beating is to punish that I dared to come to Chechnya. They had to show that my foot should not set foot in this foreign territory.

I have not met people there for a long time, so as not to set up those living in Chechnya. I did it in other places, like a partisan. But here I only wanted to come to the verdict in order to support Zarema Musaeva (wife of a federal judge and mother of an opposition leader, personal enemy of Ramzan Kadyrov. — Approx. author). Decided together with a lawyer not to be alone.

The territory of Chechnya, thank God, does not belong to anyone’s private property and belongs to the Russian Federation. And if atrocities occur there, they are qualified under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. But for some reason, a criminal case on the fact of what happened to Elena and lawyer Alexander was opened for some reason only under two articles: on the intentional infliction of minor and moderate bodily harm (part 2 of article 115, part 2 of article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). And where is the “kidnapping” (both were kidnapped from the taxi in which they were traveling from the airport), “obstruction of journalistic detail”?!

And why was the case not transferred to the central office, but instructed to investigate the department of the Investigative Committee for Chechnya?

“There is no political solution. No one wants to spoil relations with the authorities of the region because of us. Although they made it clear that this is not the case with journalists and a lawyer. In the meantime, I have a question – how did it happen that for a week Alexander and I were not interviewed? And how will our arrival in Chechnya be decided (if an investigation is underway there)? And to install the attackers is elementary. There are also cameras. We will investigate ourselves.

To be honest, there is more hope here for a journalistic investigation than for what the Chechen security forces are doing. Only here on their basis, the courts do not make decisions. What if the perpetrators are not punished fairly? In general, it remains to be hoped that the head of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin, will nevertheless take this case for himself.

This story reminded that there is no article in the Criminal Code for obstructing the activities of a lawyer. Meanwhile, not only Nemov was attacked, but others as well. Elena Ponomareva was doused with brilliant green in Moscow. She has an eye burn. The perpetrators were detained, they admitted that they did it on order (most likely, it was Elena’s disgruntled client, who had previously threatened her), received 30 thousand rubles. A criminal case was opened, on Monday, July 10, the issue of a measure of restraint will be decided. But in any case, they face a small punishment. If there was a separate article, it would be a completely, completely different story.