Strasbourg/Agency Caucasus – Said Emin Ibragimov, a Chechen defender of human rights, finally met with officials of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after his more-than-a-month hunger strike in Strasbourg.
Ibragimov stressed the need on the part of Europe to accord an internationally recognized status to Chechnya. He was with representatives of some human rights organizations, Said Hasan Abumuslimov, a leading Chechen historian, and Löm Saralyapov when he met with the PACE officials, who said that PACE is not the right place to seek a resolution to Ibragimov’s demands. The officials then offered him to end his hunger strike and join the human rights committee of PACE. He would remain on his hunger strike as long as he was not granted a positive response to his demands, Ibragimov said; however, he was hospitalized when he lost his consciousness while he was exiting the PACE building. Doctors said that his health condition was critical.
A rally of support
Meanwhile, a group of human rights defenders rallied outside the central PACE building in support of Ibragimov. The group got together outside the building both to call Ibragimov on to renounce his hunger strike and to accuse the international community of remaining indifferent to the question of Chechnya. The protest rally attracted Chechens from , , and French, too. ÖZ/FT
