Chechnya: practice of public apologies spread to foreign tourists

Benjamin, a video blogger from England, who visited Chechnya, apologized for the phrase "Chechen chick."

The Englishman's apologizing video appeared on November 8 in the chp_chechenya Instagram community. "The blogger named Benjamin from England has apologized for his statement that offends the honour of Chechen girls," the caption to the video says.

In the video, a man is sitting at a table in a room looking like a service study, with Ramzan Kadyrov's portrait on the wall behind him. The man speaks Russian.

"Salam Aleikum to all people here, in the Republic of Chechnya. My name is Benjamin, I'm from England. A couple of days ago I posted my video on the YouTube [...] and I said something ugly about women in Chechnya. I didn't want to offend Chechnya or the people here. It was an accident, and I understand now that it was unacceptable here, it was ugly. I apologize to people in Chechnya," said the Englishman.

Residents of Chechnya have criticized the republic's authorities for spreading the practice of public apologies to a foreign tourist. "Our authorities are 'progressing': now, even foreigners have to apologize for their incorrect statements. Probably, this poor Benjamin was surprised when he was put in front of the camera and demanded an apology," Adlan, a local resident, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 8, 2019 at 10:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.