Russia/Chechnya: Ramzan Kadyrov, initiator of the murder of Nemtsov, commits further crimes

On occasion of the anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician, the Society for Threatened Peoples draws a bitter balance: Ramzan Kadyrov – the leader of the Republic of Chechnya, who is still regarded as the prime suspect in the murder of Nemtsov – is still not in prison. “Not only did he go unpunished with murder; he also continues to threaten and harass opposition politicians and human rights activists on a regular basis. In addition, he has become one of the most influential politicians in Russia,” criticized Sarah Reinke, the STP’s expert on the CIS-states, in Berlin on Thursday.

“Kadyrov is a threat to national security. He must be stopped!” This is what the democratic Russian opposition is calling for – and the STP demands that German and European politicians should act on the Kremlin accordingly. Kadyrov continues to lead Vladimir Putin’s relentless battle against the democratic opposition – quite openly. He rushes against the opposition, his security forces are known to kidnap people in public, and he is sending outright threats to Chechens in exile. “There is a long list of opponents of the Chechen President and Putin who lost their lives in the last few years. The murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 and of the human rights defenders Natalya Estemirova and Zarema Sadullaeva in 2009 will not be forgotten,” stated Sarah Reinke, the STP’s expert on the CIS-states. “However, there is probably a huge number of unreported assassination attempts. Following threats and failed assassination attempts, the potential victims often decide to go underground.”

This Saturday is the first anniversary of the murder of the Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. He was shot dead in public on February 27, 2015, in Moscow. However, the investigations served to cover up connections to the Chechen Prime Minister. Kadyrov will not have to fear consequences. Meanwhile, Putin has even awarded him the “Order of Honor” and made him Head of a large Chechen oil company in early 2016. Kadyrov has also managed to gain power in the field of Russian domestic politics.

A chronicle (in German) of Ramzan Kadyrov’s human rights violations and crimes can be found at http://bit.ly/Kadyrow-Verbrechen (pdf)

Header photo: Evgeniy Isaev via Flickr