Kremlin's reaction to Kadyrov's words encourages threats to militants' families

The soft reaction of the press secretary of the Russian President to Kadyrov's threats to militants' relatives has demonstrated the Kremlin's agreement with the methods of the head of Chechnya, analysts have pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ramzan Kadyrov had called for a "hard response" to attacks on law enforcers, including bringing attackers' relatives to justice. The opinion of the head of Chechnya that terrorism must be fought as harshly as possible is beyond doubt, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's press secretary, has stated.

Andrei Kolesnikov*, a researcher with the Carnegie Centre, has noted that Kadyrov's words are contrary to the Russian legislation. "If desired, he can be brought to criminal responsibility; there is an article about threats to kill. But, firstly, such things are now possible on central TV; the boundaries of hate speech have expanded infinitely. Secondly, Kadyrov has a special status and special opportunities to speak and do whatever he wants," Mr Kolesnikov* has noted.

Kadyrov's statement contradicts the law, a Chechen political analyst has also pointed out. "Moreover, it has nothing to do with Islam," he has stated, adding that such things are "encouraged in the Kremlin, especially if it concerns Chechnya and other republics of Northern Caucasus." "I don't think that the Kremlin has reproached him, rather the opposite. Perhaps this was its reaction to the criticism of human rights defenders and journalists," the source has concluded.

Relatives of militants and authorities' opponents have long been the persecution target in Chechnya, Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, has noted. "Persecution and brutal reprisals have been practiced since the second Russian-Chechen war in the 2000s," he has stated.

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