Akhmad Zakayev, ex-Foreign Minister of Chechen Republic Ichkeria published a statement about the death of Natalya Estemirova and expressed his condolences to Estemirova’s relatives and her colleagues at Memorial.

Statement of Akhmad Zakayev:

“I wish to express my deepest condolences to the family of Natalya Estemirova and her colleagues at Memorial. Natalya was a close personal friend and we met on several occasions in London.

Her death is a huge tragedy. Her tireless efforts to expose the human rights abuses in Chechnya gave many people hope that the rest of the world would take notice, and not turn a blind eye – doing all she could to help Chechen society.

She was a remarkable women who, like Anna Politkovskaya, had great courage and moral integrity combined with deep concern for humankind. And indeed in the years following Anna’s murder, Natalya was often a lone voice in writing about the daily atrocities suffered by the Chechen people which made her a personal enemy of the Russian authorities.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutal murder of one of the leading champions for human rights and freedom in Chechnya, and call for everything to be done to ensure those responsible are bought to justice. Natalya’s death is a great loss for all humanity.

Akhmad Zakayev“