Amid growing popularity of authority critics, law enforcers check Chechen residents' phones

During raids, Chechen law enforcers check not only documents, but also mobile phones, examining the installed applications, residents of Chechnya report. Law enforcers check whether locals are commenting on reports of authorities' critics in social networks, locals have suggested.

"We were travelling with friends in a taxi to the Urus-Martan District on business and ran into a raid. Law enforcers checked the driver's documents and the car trunk; then, they told us to get out and put everything out of our pockets. They asked if anyone had Telegram in his phones, whether we use the YouTube and Instagram, and demanded to unblock our mobile phones for examining. One of us, as it turned out, had Telegram and, while pretending to be trying to unblock the phone, he managed to delete it. They [law enforcers] examined our phones, returned them and allowed us to drive further," Magomed, a resident of Chechnya, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on October 2.

"Policemen were checking the passport regime in the house. Two of them came up to me and asked if I had a telephone," Isa from Grozny told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He has added that he took out his phone and the law enforcers began checking it. "When asked what the matter was, one [of the law enforcers] said that they were checking whether I had anything unnecessary there," Isa said.

He suggested that law enforcers are checking residents of Grozny, whether they write anything on the Telegram, and whether they leave comments to the videos posted by Tumso Abdurakhmanov.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 3, 2020 at 02:59 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.