| A picket was held in support of the Chechen separatists outside the Russian Embassy in Tallinn on Wednesday. The picketers carried posters reading "Freedom to Chechnya!" and "Stop the genocide in Chechnya!" They distributed leaflets calling for peace in Chechnya and an end to murders there. Sirja Kiin, an activist with the Peace to Chechnya movement, told reporters the picket was intended "to exert pressure on Russia to fulfill its international commitments, including the beginning of a peace process in Chechnya, which it promised when it entered the OSCE." Russia should begin talks with Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskahdov, she said. "If it is true that Shamil Basayev was behind the act of terrorism in Beslan, he should be punished. But I have no evidence that the statement posted on the Internet belongs to him. I have reasons to doubt it," Kiin said. The first picket of the kind was held two weeks ago in Uppsala, Sweden, she said. Several other European cities have joined the movement, she said. "We plan to hold them every Wednesday. So far we have permission for three weeks, because city regulations do not allow issuing permits for a longer time, but we will be asking for a prolongation of the permit every time," Kiin said. |