Russian Police Seize Computers At Local NGO

Oksana Chelysheva previously headed another group that worked to fight abuses in Chechnya (file) (AI) August 30, 2007 -- Russian police have raided the offices of a non-government organization in the city of Nizhny Novgorod and seized four computers.

Oksana Chelysheva, director of the Tolerance Support Foundation, said police confiscated the computers purportedly for having unlicensed software installed.

Human Rights Watch said the seizure was "part of a Kremlin campaign against civil society."

The Tolerance Support Foundation was formed by members of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, which worked to fight abuses in Chechnya and was closed down in 2006 under a law on extremism.

(Reuters)

Forgotten Chechnya

A Russian sapper searches a Grozny street for improvised explosive devices in June 2006 (TASS)

THE CRYING SUN: RFE/RL and the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus recently hosted a screening of the film "The Crying Sun: The Impact Of War In The Mountains Of Chechnya." The filmmaker and activists discussed the making of the film and their work in Chechnya at the briefing.