Human rights activist attacked by unidentified egg-throwers in Moscow

Two unidentified young people threw eggs at Human Rights Watch Director in Russia Tatyana Lokshina, head of the Committee Against Torture Igor Kalyapin and Head of Memorial Alexander Cherkasov at a press conference at the Independent Press Center in Moscow today. The conference was dedicated to the problem of human rights in Chechnya in the light of the militant attack on the Print House in Grozny on December 4 and arsons at houses of alleged relatives of militants following the attack, Interfax reports.

Two young people started arguing with the human rights activists and asking questions. They started throwing eggs at the activists before getting an answer. Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the Memorial human rights center, said that she was sitting farther away with a Novaya Gazeta correspondent and was not hit by the eggs.

Photographs of the egg throwers were taken. The conference continued despite the incident.