24 July 2008, 11:23
In Chechnya, OMON disperses women who came to meet Kadyrov
On July 23 in Gudermes, OMON (Special Militia) fighters of the Chechen MIA beat and detained several dozens of women who gathered at the countryside residence of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov with intent to ask him for help. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from an anonymous source who talked to one of the participants of the action.
As she said, more than 100 women, who had earlier traded in the central marketplace of the city of Grozny, which is closed after July 14 on reconstruction that entailed liquidation of a lot of trading premises and areas; therefore, the women who lost their jobs went to Gudermes to meet the President and ask him to allocate some other place for them to continue their work. However, the OMON fighter also appeared there and dispersed the crowd of women by means of rubber truncheons; they detained the most active protesters and brought them to the interior department of Gudermes.
"After the works started at the 'Green Market' (the name used by Grozny residents for the central city marketplace, - note of the "Caucasian Knot") to dismantle part of pavilions and shops, most of the traders lost their jobs. For many traders there, mainly women, their trading was the only income, because Chechnya lacks workplaces, and the unemployment is enormous," says Maret, 47, a resident of Grozny.
