Probe into Ingush website owner’s murder relaunched but FSB continues to target website

Reporters Without Borders is pinning its hopes on the appointment of a new judge on 3 June to conduct the investigation into the death of Magomed Yevloyev, the owner of the Ingushetiya.ru (now Ingushetia.org) news website and opponent of former Ingush President Murat Zyazikov. Yevloyev was shot dead while in police custody in Magas, Ingushetia’s new capital, in August 2008. The appointment follows a decision by the judge in charge of the case, Ramzan Tutayev, to withdraw because of objections that he was related to the leading suspect. The judicial investigation is to go back to the point of preliminary hearings. “We hope that this change, made at the Yevloyev family’s request, will enable the judicial authorities to establish the circumstances of Yevloyev’s death and identify all those responsible,” Reporters Without Borders said. “His death must be treated as a murder, and the investigation must not be limited to the person who fired the fatal shot, who was just the last link in the chain that resulted in his death.” Yevloyev’s father, Yakhya Yevloyev, told the Russian newspaper Kommersant, “I now have a hope that those guilty of my son’s death will be identified.” The family’s lawyers have also filed a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights. Reporters Without Borders added: “The authorities nonetheless continue to target the Ingushetiya.org website and are harassing its current owner, Yevloyev’s brother. It is still charged with extremism and inciting racial hatred and a ‘proxy’ has to be used to access the site from inside Ingushetia. The judge must ensure that this harassment does not obstruct his investigation.” Yevloyev’s brother was not at home when the Federal Security Service (FSB) went to his Moscow apartment on 3 June, but the FSB’s “T Department” (which combats terrorism and extremism) has since notified him that it wants to have a “conversation” with him about the website’s activities as part of the investigation into the extremism and racial hatred charges. Yevloyev was arrested by interior ministry personnel on landing in Magas on 31 August 2008 on a flight from Moscow, during which he had a violent argument with President Zyazikov, a fellow passenger. He was fatally shot in the head a few minutes after being driven away in a police car. The authorities have always described his death as an accident but the Yevloyev family and the Ingush opposition insist that it was murder. So far, the only person to be prosecuted in connection with his death is Ibragim Yevloyev, the then Ingush interior minister’s chief bodyguard, who is charged with “homicide as a result of negligence” under article 109 of the Russian criminal code. The Yevloyev family want the charge changed to murder. When the former bodyguard’s trial began, the judge ruled that he did not have to appear in court for safety reasons. The judge also allowed witnesses to submit their evidence in the form of written statements read out in court. As a result, the Yevloyev family and its lawyers boycotted the hearings.