President of Chechnya: Sharia is more important than Russia's laws

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov denies his involvement in abductions and murder occurring in the republic and declares that "the only enemies he recognizes and intends to 'annihilate' are the enemies of Islam, to whom he refers the Wahhabi insurgents who are hiding in forests. Also, Kadyrov is convinced that Sharia is above the laws of the Russian Federation.

"I'm blamed for everything. When a cow dies, they also blame me. But what's the point to kill and abduct people if I, on the contrary, should serve them, working in their interest", Kadyrov told Pierre Avril, the author of the article "Chechnya: two faces of Kadyrov regime", published on 27 May in "Le Figaro", which InoPressa.ru.makes reference to.

Moscow bears with whims of Kadyrov Jr. in exchange for the stability he has brought to Chechnya, and for his surface loyalty to the Kremlin, but there are those who fear that Vladimir Putin, having decided to make an alliance with this "immature and ambitious young man without education", committed a "deal with Devil", the French newspaper writes.

Kadyrov opposes traditional Chechen Islam of Sufi persuasion to radical jihadism, the article writer continues and quoted Kadyrov as saying: "In my personal view, Sharia is above the laws of the Russian Federation."

Kadyrov made a similar statement in April at his press conference to Russian journalists in Grozny, NEWSru.com wrote. Then, answering a direct question about the Sharia and secular laws of Russia, he said: "I am a Muslim. I am a man of faith. In this life there is nothing above religion for me." And he added that the religion requires to "respect the law".

According to the analyst, Carnegie Center expert Alexei Malashenko, who wrote last year the book "Ramzan Kadyrov: Russian politician of Caucasian nationality", Chechen president, in the most controversial way, combines the deep religiosity with habits of such Muslim playboy. "Religion allows him, first of all, to control the society, in particular through the mosque", French newspaper quotes the analyst, and notes that "dissemination of such 'national and religious' syncretism throughout the Chechen society thickly fogs a series of murders and abductions, that mark the life in the republic up to present."

There is a connection between the lawlessness and the difficulties faced by the Chechen regime in its fight against insurgents who keep acting in forests, the board chairman of Human Rights Centre "Memorial" Oleg Orlov believes. "Kadyrov reacts nervously to any operation against the military: his men burned houses and set up covert prisons. His purpose is to show the Kremlin that his methods are most effective", Oleg Orlov quotes the publication. Orlov recalls that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for the human rights organizations to work in Chechnya, "as if a blank wall of silence towers over the glittering facade of the Chechen government."