Chechen students complain about being forced to attend rallies on Day of Republic

Today, Chechnya celebrates the Day of Republic. The main celebrations are traditionally held in Grozny. Students were obliged to attend a rally of September 5 and thus detained after classes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Chechnya started to celebrate the Day of Republic on September 6 in 2002. The second name of the holiday is the Day of Civil Accord and Unity. During the ruling of Djohar Dudaev and Aslan Maskhadov, the day was celebrated as the Independence Day of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria, an unrecognized separatist state. In 2002, the day of September 6 got the new content due to the decree issued by Akhmat Kadyrov, the former leader of the Chechen Republic.

In Grozny, students of institutions of higher education have claimed being en masse involved in a rally in front of the Youth Palace.

"We were once again used as extras at a rally. As usual, they gave us flags and banners to carry, and so we rallied for 1.5-2 hours," said Timur, a student of the Chechen State University (ChSU).

Kheda, a student of the Grozny State Oil Technical University, has noted that students are almost every month obliged to attend rallies, demonstrations, and other events, organized by the authorities.

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