Kadyrov himself posted photos of Kadyrov’s 15-year-old son kicking the victim and hitting him in the head on his Telegram channel. “He hit him and rightfully so!” commented the Chechen leader, who described 19-year-old Nikita Zhuravelli as a “piece of rubbish.” ‘Without exaggeration: I am proud of Adam. I respect his choice!
Juraveli was arrested in Volgograd in May this year on charges of setting the Quran on fire. Shortly thereafter, Russian authorities extradited him to Chechnya to stand trial, where tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding his punishment.
Human rights activists have already warned that Zhuravelli will not get a fair trial in Chechnya. According to them, Kadyrov’s video confirmed this once again. “The law does not work in Russia,” noted Vladimir Oshkin, head of the prisoner rights activist group Gulagu.net. “Everything depends on the distorted points of view with which sadists try to justify their crimes.”
The response of Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, was more moderate. She added: “No matter how serious the crimes a person has committed, he must be held accountable before a judge.” But above all, it stressed the seriousness of the crime with which Guavelli was accused. This cannot go unpunished.
Valery Fadeev, Chairman of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, also paid special attention to the burning of the Holy Quran. According to him, this is a serious provocation that should be severely punished.
no comment
Even more surprising was the reaction of Dmitry Peskov, President Putin’s spokesman. “Let me make it clear right away that I will not comment on this history with Kadyrov’s son,” he said. ‘I do not want it.’
Kadyrov has been accused for years of involvement in serious human rights violations, torture, disappearances and murders of political opponents, including opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, journalist Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova. But the Kremlin refrains from directing any form of criticism.
President Putin is using the Chechen dictator to prevent the Caucasus Republic from falling into the hands of jihadists or Chechen separatists against whom Moscow has already waged two bloody wars.
According to Igor Kalyapin, founder of the Committee Against Torture, Kadyrov wants to show once again how far he can go by publishing the video. Others say the incident is also a warning to his political rivals in Chechnya, amid rumors of his deteriorating health. Chechen political analyst Ruslan Kutayev told Radio Free Europe that if he disappears from the scene, his family is ready to take power, and his children first.
During his fifteen years in power, Kadyrov succeeded in turning the government apparatus into a family enterprise. Three of his daughters hold government positions. His three eldest sons, Ashmat (17), Zelimchan (16) and Adam (15), have been groomed by their father for years for senior positions in the security service or perhaps even as his successor. From a young age, they were given all kinds of high honors on their father’s orders.
The youngest, Adam, made a name for himself as a boy practicing martial arts, although his “championship titles” were called into question. When he was only 14, he went with his older brothers to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians. Upon their return, local media praised Kadyrov’s sons for capturing a Ukrainian soldier.
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