Analysts consider reaction of Stavropol Territory Governor to burning of Bible to be imitation of Kadyrov’s actions

With his activities in a case on the burning of the New Testament, Vladimir Vladimirov, Governor of the Stavropol Territory, copies the Ramzan Kadyrov’s reaction to the burning of the Koran in an attempt to earn political dividends, analysts have suggested.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on May 3, three residents of Novoaleksandrovsk were detained for publicly burning the New Testament. The detainees are suspected of insulting the feelings of believers and hooliganism. Governor of the Stavropol Territory Vladimir Vladimirov posted a video with apologies from the two participants of the incident.

Svetlana Gannushkina*, the chair of the “Civic Assistance Committee”*, sees in Vladimir Vladimirov’s actions a copy of the Chechen leader’s reaction to the incident when Nikita Zhuravel burned the Koran.

“First, we listened to forced apologies, the practice of which has long gone beyond the borders of Chechnya. Then, the detainees’ actions were assessed in the style of ‘their relatives will suffer,’” the human rights defender pointed out.

Political analyst Sergey Zhavoronkov also sees the Vladimir Vladimirov’s actions as imitation of those of Ramzan Kadyrov. “Vladimirov is not very popular in the Stavropol Territory, his deputies have been arrested for corruption. Vladimirov sees himself not in the most favourable situation now, and he is trying to promote himself as a great patriot, a defender of Orthodoxy,” the political analyst said.

Sergey Zhavoronkov suggests that the young people acted stupidly. “I believe that if some fool burned the Bible, then in general no tragedy happened, and they should not be imprisoned for that,” the political analyst noted.

Most often, destruction of religious books is punished with a fine or compulsory labour, reports Mikhail Akhmetiev, an expert at the “SOVA” Research Centre**.

Lawyer Yevgeny Chernousov believes that wide public outcry could lead to severe punishment for the young people who burned the New Testament.

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

**On August 17, 2023, the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction approved the decision taken earlier in April by the Moscow City Court to liquidate the SOVA Human Rights Centre.