Residents of Chechnya treat authorities' reaction to new sanctions against Kadyrov as excessive

At an emergency parliament session, Magomed Daudov, the Chairman of the Chechen Parliament, has called on the US State Department to put the entire population of Chechnya together with Ramzan Kadyrov into the sanctions list, while Salakh Mezhiev, the republic's Mufti, declared the US State Department "terrorist organization No. 1." Social network users and residents of Chechnya have ridiculed the Mufti's statement and accused the republic's authorities of trying to hide behind the population.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 20, the US State Department announced that sanctions were imposed against Ramzan Kadyrov in connection with human rights violations in Chechnya. The sanctions have also affected Kadyrov's wife Medni and his two daughters, Aishat and Khadizhat.

On July 21, a report about the emergency parliament session in Grozny, which was also attended by heads of ministries and agencies, was shown in the night news programme of the "Grozny" TV Channel. The participants condemned the inclusion of Kadyrov and his family members into the US sanctions list; while Magomed Daudov called on the State Department to put the entire population of Chechnya "into all possible sanctions lists."

Salakh Mezhiev, the Mufti of Chechnya, said in his speech that the State Department's sanctions were imposed "against Islam and the entire Chechen people," and also accused the USA of war crimes committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other Muslim countries.

"We'll not allow the US State Department to make false statements about our leader, Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, and hereby declare the US State Department terrorist organization No. 1," Mezhiev has stated.

Social network commentators expressed varying opinions.

"What harm do their sanctions inflict on Ramzan?" the user laim__lima has asked. "You might think the State Department is cold or hot from this," said the user anjela9669. "Aren't you funny yourself?" the user mu_vahid_95 has asked.

The residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent believe that the actions of the Chechen authorities after the US State Department announced new sanctions testifies to the serious concern of the republic's leadership.

"The leadership, you see, looks very alarmed by the decision of the State Department, since there was such an active reaction," Rosa is sure.

"I'm impressed by the parliament session. It was something – such a kind of competition among the entourage and officials in manifesting their love and loyalty to the leader. I think the Mufti was the farthest, who, in response to the sanctions imposed by America against Ramzan, declared the US State Department a terrorist organization. Impressive, of course, same as Daudov's demand for the USA to put the entire Chechen people into the sanctions list. Our officials have already acquired a habit to hide behind the people, in case of their own troubles," Umar said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 23, 2020 at 04:30 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.