Official Responses
The day after the murder, The Moscow Times interviewed Timur Aliyev, an adviser to Kadyrov and a former journalist who covered the two Chechen wars extensively:
Timur Aliyev ... said by telephone from Grozny that he had never heard of Israilov. He also expressed doubt that the murder could be an act of revenge by the Chechen leadership. "There are other Chechens, more important, known and influential, who file complaints against Russia in Europe and criticize Kadyrov, but they still walk around safe and sound," Aliyev said.On January 23, 2009, Lema Gudayev, Kadyrov's press secretary, alleged that the media had "launched a massive and deliberate campaign aimed at discrediting the leadership and the president of the Chechen Republic." According to Gudayev, "Having lost all their positions in the armed resistance to the authorities, the so-called ideologues of terrorism have launched a massive information war against Chechnya and its president, Kadyrov."
Read more about this topic: Umar Israilov
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