Bad cousin

Chechen state TV releases footage of Ramzan Kadyrov’s relative torturing women

On October 24, the Chechen state television network Grozny released footage showing former Grozny Mayor and former Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Islam Kadyrov using a taser to force confessions from people accused of fraud. The station shared the 13-minute news segment on its Instagram and YouTube channels.

Warning! The following video contains scenes of violence.

The TV network says it received roughly eight hours of video recorded by the former mayor’s press service. In the footage, a man who appears to be Islam Kadyrov interrogates several arrested women, screaming at them, throwing objects at them, and shocking them with a taser.

The television station also says the former mayor joined midnight raids on the homes of people behind on their rent and utility bills. During one of these incidents, bodyguards reportedly pinned down a man after he “expressed dissatisfaction” with Islam Kadyrov’s rudeness.

Police in Grozny say they are investigating the videos. Former Mayor Kadyrov and his representatives have so far declined to comment on the news report.

Islam Kadyrov is Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov’s second cousin once removed. He began his career in Chechen law enforcement, before serving as an adviser to his cousin. In 2012, at the age of 25, Islam Kadyrov became the mayor of Grozny. Three years later, he was named Ramzan Kadyrov’s chief of staff. According to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, he showed up to a cabinet meeting in May 2016 with casts on both hands — injuries that were potentially linked to the investigation into an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Ramzan Kadyrov that possibly involved one of Islam Kadyrov’s relatives. Later that year, he became deputy prime minister.

In its report, the Grozny television station says Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed Islam Kadyrov in 2017, ending his employment anywhere. It’s unclear what job Islam Kadyrov lost in this dismissal. According to the news outlet Kavkaz Realii, he’d already left the government and was by then working in law enforcement.

Alvi Karimov, Ramzan Kadyov’s spokesman, told journalists that the Chechen leader dismissed Islam Kadyrov from office when it became known that he used “unwarranted methods” even when pursuing “worthy goals” on the job. Karimov also revealed that Islam Kadyrov was seriously injured in an auto collision, and prescribed strong painkillers and psychotropic drugs. “This apparently affected his mental state somehow,” the press secretary said, dismissing rumors that Islam Kadyrov had been caught plotting to poison his cousin. “That’s an absolutely fabricated lie,” Karimov said.

Novaya Gazeta previously reported that Islam Kadyrov was removed from his post because of corruption allegations and suspected drug abuse. The newspaper says he was stripped of his security detail and his duck farm, and forced to work as a janitor and then as a security guard in the Kadyrov’s home village.

Since August 2019, according to Novaya Gazeta, the Chechen authorities have been purging high-ranking officials en masse, including even individuals with close ties to Ramzan Kadyrov. Special agents reportedly take officials, their families, security guards, and close associates to secret prisons, seizing their property and torturing them into confessing to disloyalty against Ramzan Kadyrov.

Story by Alexander Baklanov

Translation by Kevin Rothrock