Chechen Prosecutor's Office workers kidnapped a year ago set free

Two workers of the Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya, abducted on December 27, 2002, have been set free, deputy Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic Sayed Pashayev said on Friday.

"I can confirm the fact that Nadezhda Pogosova, senior aide to the Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic, and Alexei Klimov, deputy prosecutor of the Shatoi district, have been set free but cannot say anything about the details of the operation," Pashayev said. "The freed workers are now outside the republic," he added.

On December 27, 2002 Nadezhda Pogosova and Alexei Klimov were kidnapped on the highway near the village of Goragorskaya (Chechnya) on their way to Mozdok (the republic of North Ossetia).