Authorities warn to call to accounts Russian newspaper for an interview with Mr. Maskhadov

PRAGUE, February 9, Caucasus Times – Russian Federal Service supervising Russian media has officially warned the “Kommersant” (Merchant) editorial board it will impose sanctions on the daily newspaper for an interview with Aslan Maskhadov, which has been published recently.

In the interview Aslan Maskhadov, former Ichkeria’s President and Chechen rebels’ leader told the newspaper’s correspondent he did announce ceasefire commanding his followers to halt all combat operations. He said that he had commissioned his envoy Umar Hambiyev to head a Chechen rebels’ delegation to negotiate with Russian representatives. In his interview Mr. Maskhadov has addressed his appeal personally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The federal agency experts believe the publication on February, 7 this year the interview with Mr. Maskhadov has violated the federal anti-terrorism legislation, qualifying it as “information, which gives grounds for the terror actions and justifies terrorism”.

The newspaper’s editors have already stated they will dispute the charges, the Gazeta.Ru reports.

Earlier, Russian security service had summoned a director of human rights center in Nizhny Novgorod Stanislav Dmitriyevsky and interrogated him for the similar publication in the “Rights-Defense” newspaper, then Aslan Maskhadov’s letter to the European parliament. Later, the local prosecutors filed charges against Stanislav Dmitriyevsky accusing him of public appeals to topple of the government.