21:40, 28 August 2018

Chechen authorities link mass interrogations of teens with search for recruiters

Policemen in Grozny. Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

The authorities of Chechnya have explained interrogation of teenagers from the encirclement of those who attacked law enforcers with conducting of prophylactic conversations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 22, after a series of teenagers' attacks on policemen, the Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that "parents bear personal responsibility for their children's actions." Residents of the Shali District of Chechnya said that law enforcers had detained from 150 to 200 teenagers; they were released after interrogations late at night.

On August 20, attacks were committed on law enforcers in the Shali District of Chechnya and in Grozny. According to law enforcers, four out of five militants were killed, and the fifth one was wounded in an attempt of self-explosion and later died in hospital. On August 21, the resources supporting the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, posted a video with the oath of the teens-participants in the attacks on law enforcers.

"Operative services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Chechen Republic were studying the communication circle of the participants of the events (in the Shali District); preventive conversations were conducted with teenagers in the presence of their parents," the RIA "Novosti" quotes a MIA source as saying today.

The same version was voiced out today by Alvi Karimov, the press secretary of the head of the republic. "After revealing the teenagers, most of whom are 17-18 years of age, preventive conversations were held with them in the presence of their parents and teachers; no violations of the current legislation were admitted," said Mr Karimov.

The authorities treated the reasons for these "preventive conversations" as the search for instigators and the influence on teenagers, who could "get under the influence of destructive ideas."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 28, 2018 at 06:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondents