Djambulat Umarov argues with rights defenders on detentions in Chechnya

Djambulat Umarov, a Chechen Minister, has treated the version of rights defenders that by his words about the need to "warn a dozen of troublemakers and villains" he had indirectly confirmed the fact of detentions of the distributors of the photo collage with Kadyrov as inconsistent. At the same time, the minister refrained from asserting that there were no detentions.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 27, Djambulat Umarov, the Chechen Minister for National Policy, declared as false the information about the detention of 25 residents of the republic for spreading a photo collage with Ramzan Kadyrov. At the same time, he admitted the authorities' willingness to punish the authors and distributors of the cartoons and caricatures. Umarov's slip of a tongue about the need to "warn a dozen of troublemakers and villains" means that there were detentions of Chechen residents, the rights defenders, Oleg Orlov and Igor Kalyapin, and Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, have suggested.

Today, Djambulat Umarov posted a video in his Instagram page, in which he commented on the rights defenders' interpretation of his slip of a tongue.

"These comrades believe that I made a slip of a tongue and [indirectly confirmed] that we had really detained 25 people for the so-called caricatures ... Mr Orlov said that allegedly in case [...] any proofs [of detentions] appear, I specifically made a slip of a tongue by stating that troublemakers and villains should be punished for such caricatures," Mr Umarov said in his video.

"I'll state without any slips of a tongue that it is necessary to punish the troublemakers and villains who insult a person's dignity. Especially if this person is symbolized as the face of the nation," the Chechen minister has explained to rights defenders.

In his emotional five-minute speech, Djambulat Umarov did not assert that distributors of the photo collage were not detained. However, he pointed out that the version of the detention of 25 people "for criticizing the authorities" was publicized "without any due proofs."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 31, 2020 at 02:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.