GROZNY. July 1 (Interfax-AVN) - War criminals involved in the tragic events in Chechnya must be tried in Russia, said Chechen ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev.
"Proposals have been floated lately to apply to Chechnya the experience of international tribunals, similar to the one on Yugoslavia. I don't see any need to use the services of international tribunals here," Nukhazhiyev told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"Russian law and its Criminal Code provide for exhaustive rights to hold to account any Russian citizen involved in crimes, including war crimes, and have them punished as they deserve," he said.
There were tragic incidents in Chechnya, indeed, in which citizens not linked to criminal armed groups perished, he continued.
"I have said on many occasions that in many instances information was obtained about the commanders and about the registration numbers of armored vehicles used to take people away to be lost. These facts must be legally assessed and those guilty must be held to account," the ombudsman said.
The Chechen leadership has the political will to establish the truth in such cases, he said.
Nukhazhiyev noted, however, that Russian citizens, who are critical of how courts handle the cases, or who deem the measures applied to war criminal insufficient, have the right to turn to European courts as private individuals.