Play about Kadyrov is part of propaganda against Chechen underground

The staging of the play "The Man's Word" about the friendship of Ramzan Kadyrov with a former militants' commander is an element of propaganda intended to convince the members of the armed underground to lay down arms, said the experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The first night of the play, directed by Movlet Tulgarov, took place on February 23 at the Nuradilov National Drama Theatre.

According to the plot of the play, a former field commander Arslan Bataev, a character with high morals, who joined militants by delusion, is captured by Kadyrov's detachment. Kadyrov explains him the falsity of his ideas, and eventually they become friends, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

The staging may bear the chanting of the cult of personality, and be an element of propaganda for the militants' return to civilian life, said Alexander Cherkasov, the chairman of the board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

In his opinion, the major point is the propaganda addressed to militants at the background of Kadyrov's statements about the amnesty.

According to Ruslan Martagov, a political scientist and a former adviser to the "Anti-Terror" Foundation, the play is intended to emphasize the positive image of Kadyrovs in Chechen history. In his opinion, the staging of the play will have no effect on the armed underground in Chechnya.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.