01:55, 22 September 2017

TI-R gets interested in the fate of the horse presented to Kadyrov

Ramzan Kadyrov. Photo taken from the Chechen leader's Instagram

The human rights organization "Transparency International-Russia" (TI-R) will check the cost of the horse, which Prince of Dubai presented to the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.

On April 13, Kadyrov reported that the Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum had presented him with a horse. "I’m the owner of the sturdiest horse in the world, named Leonardo. She is able to walk for 200 km without a rest – such a generous and priceless gift," Kadyrov wrote in his Instagram.

According to rights defenders, it is difficult to define the cost of such a horse, since they are "usually sold at auctions; and the starting price is usually in hundreds of thousands, and even in millions US dollars." However, they noted, it is obviously more that 3000 roubles – the maximum price of a gift that an official is allowed to take under the law on combating corruption.

"Kadyrov's total incomes for the past three years make about 22.3 million roubles (less than 400,000 US dollars), that is extremely unlikely that he can afford to buy out the Sheik's gift," rights defenders believe.

The horse really belongs to Kadyrov, said Alvi Karimov, his press secretary. He explained that the gift was received as a sign of respect.

Let us remind you that in September 2009, Australian Senator Bob Brown urged to ban Kadyrov’s entry into the country, commenting on the plans for the participation of Kadyrov’s horses in the Melbourne Cup. The senator explained that he was outraged by murders and gross human rights violations in Chechnya. However, in the end, Kadyrov's horse, named Murilian, was allowed to race and took the third place, earning over 450,000 US dollars to her owner.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’