Villager’s apology highlights fear of Chechen authorities

A resident of Chechnya was forced to apologize for criticizing the village and district authorities, as his words discredited the officials appointed by Ramzan Kadyrov, believes Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Congress of Caucasian Nations.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Movladi Mutaev, a resident of the village of Verkhniy Naur, recorded an audio message in which he complained to Ramzan Kadyrov against the local authorities for ignoring the problems of the village, in particular, the problems with the supply of gas and electricity. Later, a video appeared on the Internet in which Movladi Mutaev apologizes to the leader of Chechnya for his words.

Svetlana Gannushkina*, the chair of the “Civic Assistance Committee”*, believes the public apology voiced by the Chechen resident demonstrates that the authorities of Chechnya are afraid of any public grassroots criticism, and they consider it dangerous.

The apologies were the result of the complaints against local officials who were put in their positions in agreement with Ramzan Kadyrov, suggests Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Congress of Caucasian Nations.

“By his complaints, the man called into question the actions of the persons appointed by Ramzan Kadyrov ... It is not permissible for anyone to do something like that,” Ruslan Kutaev emphasized.

According to his version, an apology is necessary so that henceforth the Chechen population “should not try to discredit the government, to make comments to it.”

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