ICRF not to check Kadyrov's threats

Ramzan Kadyrov has explained that his calls to execute authors of rumours about Chechnya were misunderstood; therefore, there is no reason to check his threats – as follows from the investigators' answer released today by the Committee against Torture (CaT).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 4, 2019, Ramzan Kadyrov demanded, at his meeting with the Chechen government, "to kill, imprison and intimidate" authors of negative materials about the republic and social network users, who comment on these materials. Kadyrov later tried to whitewash himself by explaining that his murder threats should not be taken literally.

The Chechen branch of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has refused to check the application submitted by Igor Kalyapin, a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council and the head of the CaT, who pointed to possible crime attributes in Ramzan Kadyrov's words calling to "kill" those who "violate the accord among people." the CaT's press service has stated today.

According to the response of the ICRF, posted on the CaT's website, the media had published "numerous refutations of these statements," including Kadyrov's own explanation that his words had been misinterpreted. "Thus, there is [...] insufficient data for conducting a check," the document says. Igor Kalyapin intends to appeal against the answer of ICRF's Chechen branch, the CaT's press service has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 4, 2020 at 06:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.