Participants in Grozny rally complain about use of administrative pressure

On August 22, several thousand residents of Grozny took part in a rally on the occasion of the Day of the National Flag of Russia, despite the working day. The attendance at the rally was mandatory, employees of budget-funded companies have complained.

"State servants from ministries, agencies and organizations, and employees of enterprises of the city, public and youth activists and other willing townspeople took part in the rally. Activists organized a flash mob by stretching a multi-meter-long Russian national flag in the square. At the end, a concert was staged with the participation of local pop stars," a Mayoralty source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today.

Employees of budget-funded enterprises told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they were obliged to take part in the rally. "The participation was mandatory, although the director himself was not enthusiastic about it, but there was an instruction from the top, so he had to attend the event. They sent us to the rally in the morning right from workplaces. By 10:00 a.m., we gathered in the square, received flags of Russia and Chechnya and took part in the event," said Aset, an employee of one of educational establishments.

"It makes no sense to resist coercion to participate in a mass event," said the rally participant named Suleiman. "It can be said that we've already made accustomed to this duty, same as to our work responsibilities. It is useless to refuse; and no one does it now, because they immediately offer you the only option – to get fired. And no one wants to quit, because there's nowhere to go, but one needs to maintain his family, "said the Grozny citizen.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 23, 2019 at 03:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.