12:55, 27 January 2023

Social media users express their indignation about public reprimand of schoolgirls in Chechnya

A still of the video, in which law enforcers were reprimanding six schoolgirls and their parents in the Urus-Martan District www.instagram.com/p/Cnz7rxY03pF ** the activities of the Meta Company, owning Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are banned in Russia

A video, in which law enforcers were reprimanding six schoolgirls and their parents in the Urus-Martan District, caused a negative reaction on the media. In their comments, social media users point out that the law enforcers did not explain what the children had done and why it was necessary to post the video of the schoolgirls’ reprimand for public viewing.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Chechen law enforcers regularly reprimand local residents on various occasions and post videos of those conversations on the social media. Such “educational conversations” may be provoked a violation of road traffic rules, the use of alcoholic beverages or drugs, practicing witchcraft and even wearing a niqab. In January, in the Gudermes District, the police detained and reprimanded a young man for violating road traffic rules.

Human rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina* points out that a specific feature of preventive talks in Chechnya is the desire to humiliate violators. Lawyer Yevgeny Chernousov emphasizes that law enforcers may post on the Internet the videos of such conversations only with the consent of the people depicted in them.

The Instagram* public account “ChP-Grozny” reported that an “educational conversation” was held with the students of a school the in the Urum-Martan District.”

In most comments, social media users asked what act provoked the public reprimand of the schoolgirls. Others users expressed their indignation about the situation.

Residents of Chechnya are being regularly reprimanded and publicly apologize for various misdeeds and for criticizing the authorities. In June 2015, a report prepared by the international crisis group “Chechnya: Internal Abroad” indicated that such apologies were the result of pressure and threats.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

** On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 26, 2022 at 05:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot