War Prize nominees chosen

Akhmat Kadyrov, Djokhar Dudayev and Shamil Basayev were chosen from the Chechen side and Boris Eltsin, Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Leontiev were chosen from the Russian side as final nominees for the War Prize. Altogether 216 proposals concerning people guilty of unleashing and developing the war in Chechnya have been received by the organizational committee of the War Prize competition. These proposals were received via e-mail, directly in the editorial office of the Chechen Society newspaper, and were collected by members of the organizational committee among residents of the Chechen republic.

The jury, made up of 5 people representing Russia, Chechnya, the Caucasus, Europe and the United States, will choose the winners of the War Prize competition.

The War Prize action was announced by the Institute for Social Development of Timur Aliyev on March 22. It is to end with the presentation of an original "anti-prize" to a politician or a public figure who has made "the greatest contribution" to the process of starting and developing the war in Chechnya (1994-2004). The prize will be presented in two nominations: to one Chechen and to one non-Chechen.

Each winner will be presented with a diploma, a free annual subscription to the Chechen Society newspaper, and a completely paid tree-day tour of the places of military operations in Chechnya.

Editors note: See also the article "War Prize competition to end in June".