Residents of Chechnya treat resignation of judges as result of Kadyrov’s pressure

Four Chechen judges, from whom Ramzan Kadyrov demanded “a voluntary resignation”, did it, said a source from the republic's Supreme Court (SC). The locals, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe that the judges were forced to obey, because they occurred in the focus of a conflict of interests involving Kadyrov’s retinue.

On May 5, Kadyrov demanded from Magomed Karataev, the Chairman of the SC of Chechnya, and three other judges to resign voluntarily. According to Kadyrov, he was informed about numerous violations in running criminal and civil cases.

Not only Magomed Karataev and Zaindi Khusainov, but also two other judges, who had been criticised by Kadyrov, submitted their voluntary resignation petitions, said the source, adding that the resignation of the top leadership of the Chechen SC should be addressed only by the Russian Federal SC; and the early termination of Karataev’s and Murdalov’s powers is possible only in a strictly defined and limited number of cases.

The conflict that has led to the judges’ resignation may have to do with the fact that in Chechnya local judiciary authorities have to pay their monthly tribute, said a former employee of the republic’s judiciary, assuming that the SC leaders and individual judges "had broken the unspoken rules in the relations with the republic’s leadership."

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