At the time, the human rights organizations were only aware of the fact that Elina used to be married to a man who, according to her, "turned out to be a rebel fighter" and "was killed over a month ago". Today, we received confirmation from our local sources that the rebel was indeed Shamil Basayev. According to some sources close to Elina Ersenoyeva, the marriage was not a voluntary one.
We stress that family connections to rebels — be that "the terrorist number one" or a common fighter — by no means justify an abduction and an enforced disappearance of an individual. We reiterate our hope that the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechnya Republic will conduct a thorough investigation into the abduction of Ersenoyeva and that she will be found. Then, if there are allegations that she is guilty of any crime, she should be tried by an independent and impartial court of law.