Journalist Who Uncovered Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Purge Attacked
metroweekly.comNovaya Gazeta, and her lawyer, Alexander Nemov, were both attacked while on their way to attend the court sentencing of a human rights activist in Grozny, Chechnya’s capital.Milashina told her employer that the attack seemed to have been planned out.
She said her attackers “knew what they were doing” and were “in a hurry,” attempting to intimidate them and gain access to their devices. “They beat us up two times,” Milashina says of her assailants in the most recent attack. “They were very specific, they knew what they wanted, knew what their limits were, beyond which they could not go.” Milashina was beaten, bruised, had her fingers broken, her hair shaved off, and was coated with green dye during the attack.
Nemov was beaten and stabbed with a knife.“I don’t have any wounds, thank God, just bruises,” she said in a video interview with her employer, adding that she believes she and Nemov were targeted because of their professional activity.Novaya Gazeta reported that the identity of the perpetrators is unknown.
Milashine and Nemov were asked to give a statement to police, but refused to do so. The attack mirrors a similar one carried out against Milashina three years ago.
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