NEW LEGAL TROUBLES AROUND FORMER RUSSIAN-CHECHEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 004289 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM RS SUBJECT: NEW LEGAL TROUBLES AROUND FORMER RUSSIAN-CHECHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY REF: A. MOSCOW 4114 ¶B. MOSCOW 0276 Classified By: PolCouns Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4(b and d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Regional officials in Nizhniy Novgorod are conducting investigations of organizations affiliated with Stanislav Dmitrievskiy, the head of the banned Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS),including the seizure of computers from the Nizhniy Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance, the independent local paper Novaya Gazeta, and the Nizhniy Novgorod NGO Human Rights Alliance. These actions follow legal action to place new restrictions on Dmitrievskiy's parole, following his involvement in the April "Dissenters' March," which took place without an administrative permit (reftel). Dmitrievskiy publicly decried the investigations as yet another example of the local government's pressure on him and others affiliated with the "Other Russia" opposition movement. In Moscow, Embassy raised Dmitrievskiy's case with Russian Deputy Ombudsman for Human Rights Georgiy Kunadze, who said that his staff was aware of the case, including the new restrictions on Dmitrievskiy's parole, but would follow established practice and would not get involved without an explicit request from Dmitrievskiy. END SUMMARY -------------- New Investigations -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On the evening of August 29, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' (MVD) regional bureau raided the offices of the Nizhniy Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance, a local human rights organization headed by Dmitrievskiy's close comrade, Oksana Chelysheva. (Dmitrievskiy and Chelysheva founded the organization in 2006 as a Russian-registered entity as they prepared to move the headquarters of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society to Finland.) Initially, the MVD officers asked for Dmitrievskiy, mistakenly believing him to be the organization's director, but then announced that they would conduct a complete review of the organization's financial and administrative records. The investigation uncovered allegedly unlicensed software on the Foundation's computers, which the inspectors took away for further scrutiny. Local employees, however, negotiated an arrangement to copy the information on the hard drives before turning the computers over to the inspectors. Chelysheva claims that the Fund had licenses for all the software, but had lost the documentation during frequent moves over the past year. ¶3. (SBU) On August 30, the regional authorities investigated the local offices of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta and seized their computers. Chief Editor Zakhar Prilepin told us that the paper is "not rich" and that the computers were the personal property of the users. In contrast to the actions at the Foundation to Support Tolerance, workers at the paper were unable to copy their data before the computers were removed -- effectively shutting down operations. Both Dmitrievskiy and Chelysheva have published articles in the paper, which takes a sharply critical approach to the regional and federal government. Prilepin, a member of the Eduard Limonov's banned National Bolshevik Party, has been active in the "Other Russia" opposition movement and helped to organize the April "Dissenters March" in Nizhniy Novgorod. ¶4. (SBU) Also on August 30, local officials carried out a similar investigation of financial, business, and administrative practices at the Nizhniy Novgorod NGO Human Rights Alliance. According to Chelysheva, the staff at the Human Rights Alliance provided the investigators with evidence that the computers in use were not the property of the organization, forcing the police to seek a new court order to confiscate them. Staff members claim that the police have conducted four other investigations of the NGO over the past week. ¶5. (SBU) Chelysheva reported that the authorities were also investigating the Nizhniy Novgorod Center to Support Migrants and have directed the center's director, Almaz Choloyan, to remain in the city. The investigation involves accusations that Choloyan illegally using a stolen or counterfeit Ukrainian border stamp on an immigrant's passport -- charges that Choloyan denies. Investigators have searched Choloyan's apartment and office, confiscating materials including the passports of several immigrants. According to Chelysheva, FSB officers questioned Choloyan for several hours and asked about her relations to Dmitrievskiy. -------------- -------------- Human Rights Ombudsman Observing from the Sidelines MOSCOW 00004289 002 OF 002 -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Before news of this week's investigations was made public, the Deputy Ombudsman for Human Rights Grigoriy Kunadze told Embassy that he was aware of Dmitrievskiy's case and the legal process to impose new restrictions on his parole. He noted that the Ombudsman's office had considered making a statement, but decided against such a move, primarily because Dmitrievskiy had not asked to have the case reviewed. (The Ombudsman's office generally requires a request from alleged victims before acting.) He later mused that some activists purposely do not appeal to the Ombudsman office because they prefer to play the role of victim -- perhaps an indirect reference to Dmitrievskiy. -------------- Next Steps -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Dmitrievskiy and Chelysheva now face the challenges of finding computers to revive the Foundation's work; formulating their appeal to the MVD against what they see as a violation of legal procedures; and waiting for what they expect to be further legal action. Dmitrievskiy expects more pressure as the December 2 Duma elections approach, with the Nizhniy Novgorod Governor taking additional steps to undermine the "Other Russia" opposition movement in his region. Prilepin's Novaya Gazeta also faces the challenge of buying computers and restoring operations, without the benefit of the broader support that Dmitrievskiy and Chelsyeva enjoy in Russia and abroad. Chelysheva also told us that because the RCFS is now headquartered in Helsinki, she and Dmitrievskiy enjoy good, supportive relations with the Finish government, which could help to bring international attention to their situation. ¶8. (C) Comment: We have not seen similar campaigns to target organizations linked to the "Other Russia" opposition movement in other regions, suggesting that these investigations are independent actions by the regional elite to silence what they may see as a particularly "problematic" local adversary -- Dmitrievskiy and his allies. By seizing the computers of Novaya Gazeta and the Foundation to Support Tolerance, the regional officials effectively triangulated Dmitrievskiy. If these tactics are successful in neutralizing the opposition over the longer term, we may well see them deployed by other regional elites. Past practice suggests, however, that the local authorities may ultimately relent somewhat, now that they have served warning with these raids on the eve of the official election campaign. Burns