Rights defenders point to increased persecution of Chechen authorities' critics

Chechen authorities are continuously persecuting their critics and, in an attempt to finally suppress them, use such methods as pressure on their relatives. Human rights defenders have noted that the recent case when law enforcers threatened two persons' relatives with violence, demanding that they stop criticising Chechen authorities, is not a new persecution campaign, but an intensification of the previous one.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 4, critics of Ramzan Kadyrov announced law enforcers' pressure on their relatives.

In the opinion of Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, there is hardly a link between the pressure on critics' relatives and the above Kadyrov's statement.

"When they talked about blood feud, they most likely meant what would happen in the next three to four months, when there will be a large mobilization; and those who dislike [taking part in the special military operation (SMO)] will resist law enforcers; and there may be unpleasant incidents, even clashes. It seems to me that Kadyrov's speech was a warning for such cases," Mr Kutaev has explained.

"Chechen authorities have never stopped putting pressure on their critics and their families. They have always been pressing everyone who criticized them," he has stated, adding that critics of Chechen authorities should fear for their relatives' safety.

The opinion that after Kadyrov's public statements the threat to the security of relatives of opponents of Chechen authorities is increasing was also expressed by Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*. Chechen authorities are probably confident that they will eventually be able to suppress their critics, which is why they are threatening their relatives, she has explained.

After Kadyrov's threatening statements, his supporters begin to enforce what he said as if it were an order, an activist of the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence has noted. In his opinion, the new round of putting pressure on critics shows Chechen authorities' inefficient actions.

"This is most likely law enforcers' hysteria from their powerlessness and anger ... Today, we can expect anything from authorities' supporters not only in Chechnya, but throughout Russia. And all this will go unpunished," the activist has concluded.

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