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Not Investigating Attack on Activist Kalyapin Illegal Says Prosecutor

Igor Kalyapin, head of Russia's Committee Against Torture. Pavel Golovkin / AP

Chechnya's Prosecutor Office has ruled that the refusal of police to open a criminal investigation into an attack on a top human rights activist was illegal.

The attack on Igor Kalyapin, the head of Russian human rights group The Committee Against Torture, should have been investigated further, said a letter published Friday on the Russian human rights council's website.

Kalyapin was attacked near the entrance of the hotel in the center of Chechen capital Grozny on March 16, where he had been planning to meet with another human rights activist. Fifteen attackers beat him and pelted him with eggs and green disinfectant.

Chechen law enforcement agencies began to investigate the attack but later refused to initiate criminal proceedings.

Activists from the Committee Against Torture are involved in Chechnya to monitor human rights violations in the region. The organization have been criticized by the Chechen authorities and its members and offices have repeatedly been the targets of attacks.

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