Natalia Chussainovna Estemirova

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Natalia Estemirova, painted posthumously by Chechen artist Asia Oumarova

Natalja Chussainowna Estemirowa ( Russian: Наталья Хусаиновна Эстемирова ; born February 28, 1958 in Saratov Oblast ; † July 15, 2009 ) was a Russian historian , journalist and human rights activist in the former war zone Chechnya .

Life

Natalja Estemirowa was the daughter of a Russian and a Chechen . She studied at the historical faculty of the university in the Chechen capital Grozny and journalism at Moscow's Lomonosov University . Until 1998 she worked as a teacher.

Estemirova worked for the human rights non-governmental organization Memorial and was a friend of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in 2006, and Stanislav Markelov , who was also murdered in 2009 . She helped families in Chechnya in the search for missing relatives and informed the public about kidnappings, some of which were carried out with state approval, and about the torture of civilians. With her critical reports she repeatedly drew the ire of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov .

In 2005, the human rights activist was awarded the Robert Schuman Medal by the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament . In 2007 she was awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Prize for her human rights work. When asked if she was afraid for her life, Estemirova replied in an interview with the British broadcaster BBC: "Every now and then I forget about fear because I feel other feelings that are much stronger."

After the meeting of “ Memorial ” employees with Ramzan Kadyrov on February 22, 2008 , Estemirova was appointed chairman of the Public Council on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Grozny City Administration, but after appearing on the Russian TV channel's “Islamic Evolution” program Ren-TV was released on March 31 of the same year. In the program, Estemirova spoke out against the obligation to wear a veil for women in offices and educational institutions, which is said to have outraged Kadyrov.

death

On the morning of July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped in front of her home in Grozny and found dead that afternoon in a strip of forest near the M29 trunk road near the village of Gasi-Yurt in the Nazran Raion of the neighboring republic of Ingushetia with multiple head and chest shots. The assassination of Estemirova triggered worldwide consternation and reactions from numerous politicians, who saw through the discovery in the neighboring republic as a cover-up attempt by the client. Estemirova was widowed and had a daughter aged 15. In 2019 the memory book "Please Leb" was published by the daughter.

Oleg Orlov , chairman of the Memorial Council, blamed Kadyrov for the murder. Kadyrov filed a lawsuit against this allegation. In a first trial before a Moscow district court, Kadyrov was found to be right, while Orlov was acquitted in the second trial. Kadyrov's lawyer wants to challenge the acquittal.

A year after the murder, when Angela Merkel reminded him that he had made a promise of a thorough investigation, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that the perpetrator had now been identified and that he was being wanted . In addition, everything will be done to catch those behind. After ten years the investigation was not a step further.

Fonts

Interviews

  • Natalja Estemirowa in an interview with Amnesty International about her work in Chechnya, October 7, 2008, on amnesty.org: [1] , on YouTube: [2] (video, approx. 8.5 minutes, Russian with English subtitles)
  • TV interview from April 2009 with Natalja Estemirowa (on Arte , five parts, approx. 7 min., Russian with simultaneous German translation): [3]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ timesonline.co.uk timesonline.co.uk accessed 19 July 2009
  2. ^ A b Before Medvedev's visit: Politkovskaya colleague murdered. In: Russia News , July 15, 2009.
  3. ↑ Эстемирова Наталья Хусаиновна. In: Caucasian Knot (Russian).
  4. ↑ Human rights activist Estemirowa shot dead in the North Caucasus. In: Die Zeit , July 15, 2009.
  5. ↑ a b Outrage over the murder of a human rights activist on sueddeutsche.de, July 16, 2009
  6. ↑ Кавказский Узел: Эстемирова Наталья Хусаиновна . In: Кавказский Узел . ( kavkaz-uzel.eu [accessed December 21, 2017]).
  7. ↑ Некролог: Наталья Эстемирова. In: BBC , July 16, 2009 (Russian).
  8. ↑ a b c Do not wear a headscarf and avoid Putin Avenue , Novaya Gazeta, July 14, 2019
  9. ↑ "Mama has been shining like this in the last few days" , Novaya Gazeta, July 14, 2019
  10. ↑ Kadyrov defends himself against accusations in court. In: Focus , July 17, 2009.
  11. ↑ Christian Esch: Court bows to Kadyrov. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , October 6, 2009.
  12. ↑ Human rights activist Orlov acquitted of defamation against Chechnya boss Kadyrov. In: RIA Novosti , June 14, 2011.
  13. ↑ Michael Ludwig: A dead person as a perpetrator. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , July 17, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Estemirova, Natalja Chussainovna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Эстемирова, Наталья Хусаиновна (Cyrillic); Estemirova, Natalia (English and French transcription)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian journalist, historian and human rights defender
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Saratov , Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 2009
Place of death uncertain: Gasi-Yurt , Nazran Raion, Ingushetia, Russia