The right to the answer

Letter of the press secretary of the head of the Chechen Republic I.S.-u. Vakhidova - chief editor of Novaya Gazeta

The right to the answer

Letter of the press secretary of the head of the Chechen Republic I.S.-u. Vakhidova - chief editor of Novaya Gazeta

In less than two days, I was appointed to the post of spokesman for the head of the Chechen Republic, and I already had to face the article, which, to put it mildly, puzzled me with a completely incorrect presentation of obvious facts. In our telephone conversation, you asked me to indicate errors in the article by E. Milashina, “Death from Coronavirus is less evil” of April 12, 2020, citing the fact that the text at the time of the conversation on the phone was “not before my eyes”. I hope that after my call, you had enough time to finally read the article.

( From the editorial office. The material of Elena Milashina “Death from coronavirus is less evil” was removed from the site at the request of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, which called it “inaccurate article”, without explaining the claims, and threatened the “new newspaper” with the demand to explain the essence of the requirements. The editorial statement on this occasion is read here. )

Let me remind you that the telegram channel is the official channel of the head of the Chechen Republic, the link to which is indicated on the official website of the head and government of the Chechen Republic. While Instagram accounts are not official. All comments on the volumes made in the article Milashina are already indicated in the telegram channel. I repeat the most obvious of them, which are, in our opinion, obviously false. “Obviously,” because it is not difficult to check such information, but since the journalist did not, then he was not initially necessary at all. By the way, in our telephone conversation you noted that, according to the media law, there is no censorship in Russia, and you cannot force journalists to correct their texts (this is not an accurate quote, but I understood the meaning). Well, it turns out that all the leaders in Russia every now and then violate the law, correcting errors and inaccuracies in the texts, and the correspondent of Novaya Gazeta is free to write without checking the facts on any topic of any nonsense and absurdity?

I’ll start with Lida, whose leitmotif goes through a red thread throughout the article: “When the infected people equated to the terrorists in Chechnya, the residents of the republic began to hide their illness and die at home.” The text indicates that the head of the Chechen Republic equated the terrorists infected with coronavirus. If the author of the publication turned even for oral comments on this issue and clarifications to the information department of the head and government of the Chechen Republic, we would explain that the head of the region R.A. Kadyrov made such statements more than once and each time noted that he considers the terrorists of infected people who return from epidemiologically disadvantaged countries, irresponsibly ignore the conditions of quarantine that are generally accepted in such cases, thereby infecting everyone with whom they are in contact. This statement was made after an elderly woman with a confirmed presence of coronavirus decided to return to the Chechen Republic from Moscow by train. Upon arrival, she infected her daughter and a number of other persons. She herself subsequently died. For persons returning from dysfunctional territories, a special hotline number was allocated. Such people were provided with special transport. Yes, they need to stay on a quarantine for 14 days, which helps to reduce the number of infected ones. But the pilgrim returning from Mecca did not do this, who hid the fact of his arrival from the authorities, ignored the demand to contact the hotline number, and moreover, spent at home the religious ritual of Movlid on the fact of the performance of the Umra, contacted hundreds of people and ... infected them. It is precisely such irresponsible that R.A. calls terrorists Kadyrov! But this does not mean that he is really going to kill them. Otherwise, where did the 15 recovered in the republic come from?

As if in confirmation of the stated fear of the patients in front of Kadyrov, the opinion of relatives is given that Ahmed Garayev (whose funeral caused the spread of coronavirus infection) died not in the hospital, but at home, and that it was infected with coronavirus.

In this case, it is obvious to us that the author of the article is based on the retelling of the words of certain distant relatives who do not own information, or on frankly fake audio recordings.

I propose to contact the chief physician of the Republican Clinical Hospital named after Sh. Ependiev Satzite Upanova, who has records, the results of analyzes received by Ahmed Garayev's hospital. Naturally, there is also a posthumous epicrisis, which describes all the symptoms of the patient, the date and time of admission to the RCB, as well as the date and time of its death.

I am also outraged by what word was called the process of obtaining information about infected people. The author of the article called the dialogue of the doctor and the patient in the oxygen mask "Interrogation". And then there is a comparison: "Imagine how to interrogate the dauds of a healthy person ..."

The exaggeration of this topic is completely superfluous. And I am sure that readers with their common mind have doubted the author’s sensation. Think for yourself: it is better to ask the patient about other potential infected people who, without suspecting the disease, walk the streets of the Chechen villages and spread the infection, or is it better to leave the poor fellow with their illness in private? The correspondent of the “new” cynically justified and necessary from a medical point of view cynically calls the “interrogation”.

Fake also turned out to be information about the closure of all hospitals and FAPs in several areas of the Chechen Republic. As an example, a document was given on the closure of a small hospital in s. Beno-Yurt, whose doctors were in contact with the sick coronavirus infection.

Frankly fake is also the information that the Minister of Health of the Chechen Republic Elkhan Suleimanov urged doctors to sew masks and robes himself. In the republic, where every day the Akhmat-Haji Kadzhi Kadyrov regional public fund is assisted by thousands of witty and poor, be dead, there are funds and specialists for sewing masks so as not to distract doctors from their direct duties.

Dmitry Andreevich, the article contains a number of other fakes, but probably it makes no sense to indicate them further, if, according to the law on the media, in the absence of censorship in the country, you do not have the opportunity to make editing your correspondent.

I sincerely hope that you still do not begin to cunning and take into account the fact that the telegram channel is the official information resource of the head of the Chechen Republic, in which you will find all evidence of the non-focus of the claims set forth in the article. In case of difficulties with the translation of the speeches of R.A. Kadyrov are ready to provide a translator.

As you asked, I send you a written response to your article until April 30. I hope that you will nevertheless revise your attitude to the verification of the reliability of materials before publication, and correspondents will double-check the facts and not build guesses based on rumors, gossip and mailings in instant messengers.

Always ready to provide reliable information about events in the Chechen Republic.

Spokesman for the head of the Chechen Republic,
Head of the information department
Heads and government of the Chechen Republic
I.S.-u. Vakhidov