Chechen public employees complain about threats in connection with community works

In the Gudermes District of Chechnya, leaders of public institutions threaten to dismiss employees who express their dissatisfaction with cleaning from garbage the outskirts of the municipality during the month of subbotniks (voluntary cleaning works) announced by the authorities, local residents report.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2018, residents of the Grozny District of the republic also claimed being forced to clean up banks of the Terek River from household garbage.

Participation in subbotniks organized by the authorities is obligatory for employees of public institutions in the Gudermes District. This is supervised by leaders of the municipal public institutions who send their employees to clean the territory, local residents tell the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"My child got sick at home, and even in this case I was not allowed to go home until the subbotnik was over. If you do not want to take part [in a subbotnik], then quit. This is what we are being told," said Zarema, a local resident.

Other local residents also report that public employees dissatisfied with participation in community works are offered to give up their positions. "We have subbotniks now instead of weekends and part of a working day. This week I had to come to subbotniks twice. We had a conversation with our bosses about that and dissatisfied people were offered to write letters of dismissal," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by another public employee.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 26, 2019 at 12:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.