Officials explain Ramzan Kadyrov's threats to rights defenders

In Chechnya, there are no restrictions for members of human rights organizations, the Chechen authorities announce. The Chechen Press Minister has explained that while speaking of rights defenders, Ramzan Kadyrov meant "notorious journalists."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the rights defenders who condemned the methods applied by the law enforcement bodies after a series of attacks on policemen in Chechnya. In his speech, the Chechen leader put rights defenders on a par with militants and announced that he forbade them to visit Chechnya.

"It is nonsense, an attempt to attract attention. Ramzan Akhmatovich (Kadyrov) did not voice any threats against rights defenders," said Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister for National Policy, External Relations, Press and Information, in his interview to the RBC on August 28.

According to the Minister, the words "rights defenders" were initially used as an allegory. "The statements concerned notorious journalists and those persons who came to the Chechen Republic in order to slander and pretend to be rights defenders," Djambulat Umarov noted.

The Chechen Minister has emphasized that rights defenders "worked, work and will work" in Chechnya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 29, 2018 at 01:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.