A jailed human rights activist in Chechnya is asking Russia's Supreme Court to move his trial

Oyub Titiev, the head of the human rights group “Memorial” in Chechnya, has filed an appeal with Russia’s Supreme Court, asking to have his trial moved to another region within the country. Until the Supreme Court rules on his petition, the Shalinsky City Court cannot proceed with his case.

Chechen police detained Titiev in January 2018, charging him with the illegal possession of 180 grams (a little more than six ounces) of marijuana. He says the drugs were planted in his car. After his arrest, Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov said publicly that human rights activists are “enemies of the people” who “have no place in Chechnya.”

Memorial has faced police pressure in other parts of Russia, as well. In Petrozavodsk, for example, the organization’s local head, Yuri Dmitriev, is now being retried on controversial charges that he sexually abused his foster daughter. Read his side of the story here.