(CJES/IFEX) – On 27 April 2006, staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Karachaevo-Cherkessia conducted a search in the house of the parents of Fatima Tlisova, a correspondent of REGNUM news agency. Tlisova is officially registered as a resident of that house. At the time of the search the journalist was on a […]
(CJES/IFEX) – On 27 April 2006, staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Karachaevo-Cherkessia conducted a search in the house of the parents of Fatima Tlisova, a correspondent of REGNUM news agency. Tlisova is officially registered as a resident of that house.
At the time of the search the journalist was on a business trip to Moscow. Hoewever, Tlisova told CJES that during the search her mother and brother were in the house.
“I was told by my relatives that, at about 11:00 a.m., two militia cars stopped by the gates. Nine persons came out of those cars; one of them was wearing a police uniform and the other – a district inspector – is personally known to my mother; all the rest were in mufti; my relatives knew none of them.
“My relatives were shown a search warrant; however, my brother noted that there was no stamp on the paper. The district inspector informed them that militia had received information that there was a weapon kept in my house, and that they had to search all the rooms and the yard.
“My brother demanded the presence of witnesses, but the militiamen replied that they had brought witnesses along with them, and pointed to two men who had arrived together with them. My brother expressed doubt with regard to the witnesses and the legality of the search as a whole, but he was threatened with the words: ‘If you don’t want to let us in, then you have indeed something to hide.’ After that, my brother let them into the house,” said the journalist.
The search lasted for more than an hour. The militiamen did not find anything illegal and drove away afterwards. Tlisova emphasized that the normal protocol for such searches was not followed, since her relatives, who were present at the time, were not asked to sign anything. This fact leads Tlisova to suspect that the search was unlawful.
Tlisova told CJES that she considers the search to be a deliberate attempt to intimidate her, and that it is related to her professional activity. Apart from being a correspondent of REGNUM, she actively cooperates with the Associated Press news agency.
She also informed CJES that, in early April, she received a call on her cell phone from a man who introduced himself as the head of the criminal [investigation] militia of the First Department of Internal Affairs of Nalchik. He informed her that she had to report to give testimony in connection with an assassination attempt on Sufyan Beppaev, a well-known Balkar public figure and leader of the public organization “Alan”. When Tlisova asked what she had to do with that case, the voice on the phone replied that the investigators had to check “if there is any hostile relationship between the journalist and Beppaev”. Tlisova refused to report to the militia and demanded that she be sent an official subpoena. The journalist thinks that the phone call and the search may be related.
“I think that everything that is going on around me is a planned provocation connected with my professional activity. In my journalistic practice, there have been many cases where officials of various ranks openly advised me to change my stance to avoid problems in future,” Tlisova told CJES.
CJES previously reported on a past incident involving Tlisova, which took place on 8 June 2005 (see IFEX alert of 16 June 2005).
