Law enforcers find new way to persecute residents of Chechnya

The case of Adam Madaev, a Chechen resident, who was fined for posting comments in an oppositional channel, indicates that law enforcers continue having interest in the resources of critics of the authorities; the case also demonstrates a new practice of fabricating charges, the interviewed human rights defenders believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the court fined Adam Madaev for his comment posted in the chat of the "1Adat"* oppositional Telegram channel.

Given the Chechen authorities' attitude towards critics and oppositional channels, Madaev "got off quite easily," says gonzalo_lynch, an author of the comment on the "Caucasian Knot". He has recalled that other critics in Chechnya were subject to harsher punishments. The commentator has also cited the version of the oppositional channel that the comment from Madaev's phone was left by the law enforcers who had detained him and who opened a case on the basis of this comment.

A fine for a comment, even if it was falsified by law enforcers themselves, is a new practice for Chechnya, Oyub Titiev, a human rights activist, has noted, adding that in Chechnya and in Russia in general it is not difficult to prove fabrication or falsification, but it can be difficult to defend these proofs in court.

A fine for placing comments on the Internet, moreover in an oppositional channel, is something new for Chechnya, a lawyer for the "Team against Torture (TaT)** has noted, pointing out that Chechen operative agents obviously have an undiminished interest in oppositional channels.

*In July 2021, the Zavodskoi District Court of Grozny treated a number of posts placed in the "1Adat" Telegram channel as extremist and also found the "1Adat" Movement's Internet resources as prohibited; and in May 2022, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya recognized the "1Adat" Movement itself as an extremist organization and banned its activities in the territory of Russia.

**The "Team against Torture" (TaT, formerly the "Committee against Torture" – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.