Chechen authorities offer to improve practice of public apologies

The Chechen authorities are ready to make headings for apologies and repentances in mass media so that residents of the republic were responsible "for their words" in social networks or for their actions, said Djambulat Umarov, the Minister of National Policy, External Relations, Press and Information of Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that residents of Chechnya repeatedly made public apologies to the authorities on the air of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Company). Thus, on January 15, the woman from Achkhoi-Martan, who had wanted to help her son living in France by handing him a certificate that he was beaten up by law enforcers, apologized to the authorities.

The above Minister Umarov has treated the practice of public apologies as an efficient way to influence hooligans and people who sow panic in social networks.

As an example of "re-education", Umarov gave the case of the young man who had thrown a can on passengers in public transport. The young man, whom Kadyrov get employed after his apologies, "remained his post," said the minister.

The report of the International Crisis Group (ICC) noted that residents of Chechnya bring public apologies forcedly, after pressure and threats. On air on the TV, they repeatedly refused from their complaints to the authorities. One of them is Aishat Inaeva, who in December 2015 complained to Kadyrov about the plight of the republic's residents.

In Chechnya, even teenagers are forced to make public apologies. Thus, in December 2017, law enforcers forced teenagers from the village of Starogladovskaya to apologize to the camera to the residents of the village of Ilaskhan-Yurt, with whom the guys had a quarrel.