Kalyapin demands to check Kadyrov's words about collective responsibility of militants' families

The statements of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov about relatives' responsibility for militants' actions are contrary to the law, said Igor Kalyapin, the head of the Committee Against Torture, in his appeals to the bosses of the Russia's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) and the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). A citizen of the republic has reported on condition of anonymity that five houses of the families, whose members were killed in the recent militants' attack on Grozny, has been burnt down by law enforcers.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 5, Ramzan Kadyrov held a meeting, during which he announced the introduction of the principle of collective responsibility of families of members of the armed underground. The head of Chechnya said that militants' relatives will be expelled from the republic, and their houses will be demolished.

The above Kadyrov's statement followed a militants' attack on Grozny on December 4.

The statements of Kadyrov violate the presumption of innocence, as by the law militants' relatives "may be subjected to criminal liability and punished only if the court has passed a conviction, which establishes the guilt and the degree of their participation in the crime," Kalyapin has emphasized.

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