Ramzan Kadyrov offers forgiveness to Ichkeria supporters amid killings in Europe

The leader of Chechnya has announced his willingness to forgive opponents who left Russia if they recognize the fallacy of their views. The Ramzan Kadyrov's call was voiced after a series of resonant killings of critics of the Chechen leader in Europe.

While speaking on the air on Instagram, Ramzan Kadyrov has said that "eurosupporters of Ichkeria", that is, supporters of the Chechnya's independence, who fled to Europe, are themselves aware of the fallacy of their ideas. The leader of Chechnya called them "false patriots" who "work out their social benefits," the "Kavkaz.Realii" quoted Ramzan Kadyrov as saying and translated his statement from the Chechen language.

"They (supporters of independent Ichkeria, – note of the 'Caucasian Knot') are part of my people. Many of them found themselves far away from their homeland because of various circumstances. Some of them fled the republic escaping the war in early times, and others left in search of a better life," said the leader of Chechnya as quoted in a post on the Instagram public account of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen TV and Radio Company) on May 27.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since August 2019, two opponents of Chechen leader have been killed in countries of the European Union. On August 23, 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a native of the Pankisi Gorge, a participant of the second Chechen military campaign, was shot dead in Berlin. In January 2020, Imran Aliev, a native of Chechnya, well-known as blogger Mansur Stary (Old), was killed in the French city of Lille. The first well-known killing of an opponent of Ramzan Kadyrov in the EU countries was an incident on January 13, 2009, when Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard of the leader of Chechnya, was shot dead in the centre of Vienna.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 28, 2020 at 02:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.