Chechnya Rally

Thousands Rally in Chechnya to Protest After Russia Acquits Troops of
Murdering Civilians

Created: 20.05.2005 15:26 MSK (GMT +3),


MosNews

Thousands of people gathered in the Chechen capital Friday to protest
the acquittal of a Russian officer who killed six civilians in the
republic, agencies report.

A jury found a group of special purpose troops commanded by Captain
Eduard Ulman not guilty on Thursday of murdering six civilians in
Chechnya.

The organizers of the sanctioned rally estimate several thousand will
gather in the centre of Grozny, among them students and teachers of
high schools, citizens of Grozny and Chechen villages.

Captain Ulman's unit killed a civilian and subsequently
extra-judicially executed five more in an incident in January 2002. In
April 2004, they were acquitted by a jury, although they did not deny
killing the civilians. They said they had been following orders. The
case is currently being retried with sentencing expected to take place
later this month.