27 December 2018, 08:20
Rights defenders treat Kadyrov's reaction to a child's complaint as his promotion action
The solution of the problem of the boy from Grozny, who has addressed Ramzan Kadyrov, was a typical Kadyrov's promotion action like those undertaken by Vladimir Putin. Kadyrov is manipulating the opinion of residents of Chechnya, by demonstrating polar reactions to people's appeals, rights defenders assert.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Kadyrov drew attention of the Mayor of Grozny to the video of a boy, who complained on the Instagram that he had hot water running from both taps.
The boy's video and comments on the Instagram evidence that he is a relative of a high-ranking Chechen official.
"We can't say that it was a pre-planned action by the boy's parents with the aim to solve the problem, but in general, this is Kadyrov's promotion action. Any such appeal to solve a specific problem is then used by politicians as advertisement," Oleg Orlov, the director of the programme "Hot Spots" of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has noted.
According to Mr Orlov, such promotion actions evidence the weakness of the management system. "Under a normal state administration, such problems are solved by an official, not by the head of the republic or state," he has explained.
Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civil Assistance Committee, has also treated the reaction to the boy's complaint as a "promotional game by Ramzan Kadyrov."
"We see manipulations here: someone is punished for appeals, and someone is bestowed. That is, people should live in fear and expectation, whether they would be punished or not," Ms Gannushkina has added.
Not all the adults were exposed to pressure after sending their complaints to Kadyrov, but when an appeal comes from a child, chances for solving the problem are markedly higher, Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the director of the Centre for Analysis and Conflict Prevention, believes.
The mechanism of personal appeals to Kadyrov is very popular in Chechnya, Ms Sokiryanskaya has noted. "Kadyrov's Instagram is an efficient way to solve problems ... but much also depends on his mood," she has added.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 26, 2018 at 10:01 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Gor Alexanyan Source: CK correspondent
