No joke

The Memorial Human Rights Center does not exclude the possibility that the issue of suspending the work of the branch in Chechnya will have to be considered again. Before this, Memorial suspended work in the republic after center employee Natalya Estemirova was killed on July 15 last year. The head of the center, Oleg Orlov, said then that he could not guarantee the safety of his employees in the republic. The resumption of work was later announced. Now Memorial has responded to the words of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who in an interview with the Grozny TV channel called those involved in the work of the center “enemies of the people, enemies of the law, enemies of the state.” Memorial states that “in today’s Chechnya, this public statement by the President of the Chechen Republic is a direct and obvious threat. Republican officials and employees of republican law enforcement agencies will take Ramzan Kadyrov’s words as an instruction to act against Memorial and its employees. Some of them may perceive the words of their leader as declaring the Memorial people outlawed with all the ensuing consequences.”

Kadyrov, in an interview, doubted that Orlov really “rooted” for his, Kadyrov’s, republic, and ironically asked whether Orlov was a greater patriot in his republic than the president. “I lost everything. I lost loved ones to murder. Be it Orlov, be it a woman with a man from the Gudermes “Memorial” or someone else... - what have they done for the republic? They receive large salaries from the West and to report on their activities they write all sorts of nasty things and nonsense on the Internet,” with these words quoted by the Caucasian Knot, Kadyrov prefaced the phrase in which he called human rights activists enemies of the people, the law and the state.

Memorial also noted that in the interview Kadyrov approved shooting paint at women who do not wear headscarves.

This interview was published on July 3, and on July 6, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, speaking at the United Russia conference, called for dialogue with human rights activists in the North Caucasus. True, he noted that among them there are those who are financed from outside (and, as one should understand, one should not conduct a dialogue with them). In a conversation with a Daily Journal correspondent, Orlov recalled that Memorial representatives were present at a meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and human rights activists from the North Caucasus. From this he concluded that, apparently, the supreme authorities still do not consider Memorial an enemy who does not deserve dialogue. However, in Chechnya they think differently. However, it cannot be ruled out that with his statement Putin could have hinted to Medvedev that not everyone is worth meeting.

Let us recall that on July 6, Orlov was charged with slandering Kadyrov - the head of the human rights center held the Chechen president responsible for the death of Estemirova.