07 December 2012, 17:28
YouTube is still unavailable in Chechnya because of the film "Innocence of Muslims"
In Chechnya, Internet users are not able to open the websites hosting the film "Innocence of Muslims".
On September 25 and 26, the providers working in Chechnya blocked the access – at the demand of the Republic's Prosecutor's Office –to the YouTube and social network "VKontakte" because of the film "Innocence of Muslims" posted there. On September 27, the Lenin District Court of Grozny prohibited to show the film. On October 1, the Tver Court found the film "Innocence of Muslims" as extremist; it was banned for screening in Russia.
"Chechens need no YouTube. And they don't need the Internet, and the fax machine. And TV-sets should also be cancelled. Chechens must pray five times a day in mosques; pray and work," writes sarcastically the blogger with the nickname occupant in the Livejournal.
Meanwhile, the ruling of the Lenin District Court applies only to the users' pages with the film, but not the websites YouTube and "VKontakte"; and this is stated in the ruling.
Muslim Shahgiriev, the head of security of the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) "Vainakh Telecom", one of the largest Internet providers in Chechnya, confirms blocking sites. "The websites were blocked, because the posted film 'Innocence of Muslims' was adjudged as extremist," Shakhgiriev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Author: Oleg Krasnov Source: CK correspondent
