09:31, 7 May 2020

Kadyrov's anger over videos in social networks reveals his phobias

A police officer checks the permit issued for a resident of Chechnya. Screenshot of the video https://www.instagram.com/p/B_3TXR9l-je/

Ramzan Kadyrov has threatened to send authors of video clips about detentions of quarantine violators in Chechnya to public works, because he fears protests in his republic, said Ruslan Kutaev, a researcher of the Caucasus.

Since April 13, residents of Chechnya are forbidden to leave their homes without special permits.

Ruslan Kutaev, who is also the president of the international socio-political movement "Assembly of Caucasian Nations", has noted that Chechen law enforcers are cruel to those residents who leave their homes.

According to his version, absence of money is pushing residents to violate the quarantine.

"Kadyrov wants no additional excitement in the society – he needs no rallies and protests," Khamzat Israilov, a retired police colonel, has agreed.

The head of Chechnya also threatened violators of the self-isolation regime with community works; meanwhile, Kadyrov himself and other Chechen top officials ignore preventive measures by participating in collective namazes (prayers).

Kadyrov seeks to prevent leakage of information about detentions in order to show his control over the situation in Chechnya, a political analyst has noted. According to his story, quarantine violators try to hide and resist so as not being publicly disgraced.

Making video of policemen, if it is of public interest, is permissible, Vitaly Zubenko, a lawyer, believes.

Yulia Fedotova, another lawyer, is sure that law enforcers not only can but should be filmed while performing their service duties.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 7, 2020 at 03:30 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondents