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Kadyrov nominato presidente

Ramzan Kadyrov è stato oggi formalmente nominato presidente della repubblica meridonale russa della Cecenia. La Russia con questa decisione sostiene di aver riportato la stabilità nella regione: associazioni per i diritti umani hanno più volte sostenuto che questa stabilità èstata ottenuta con il terrore, attraverso l'operato delle milizie di Kadyrov che rapiscono, torturano e uccidono civili. Kadyrov era stato nominato primo ministro nel 2004 in seguito all'assassinio del padre Akhmad Kadyrov, presidente fedele alla politica di Mosca. Da quel momento Kadyrov jr. è diventato la figura più potente della regione, immagine accresciuta attraverso l'utilizzo della Kadyrovtsy, la sua milizia privata.

Fonte: Peace reporter

Prima parte dell'articolo:

Ramzan Kadyrov was sworn in as president of Chechnya on Thursday in a star-studded ceremony here.

Kristina Orbakaite and Nikolai Baskov were among the celebrities in attendance at the lavish inauguration, and rumors were rife that Patricia Kaas, Shakira and Beyonce would fly in for a concert Thursday evening.

The inauguration committee said, however, that no foreign stars would take part in the concert.

Wearing his Hero of Russia medal, Kadyrov placed his hand on a copy of the Chechen Constitution and was sworn in during a brief ceremony. Dmitry Kozak, the presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, presented him with an official identity card.

"When a new leader comes along, all hopes are placed on him. I hope you fulfill those desires," President Vladimir Putin said in a message read by Kozak. "You have to continue the work of reviving Chechnya."

The ceremony took place in a specially built pavilion next to the president's private residence in Gudermes. Security was tight all over the republic, with the entire police force on duty.

Police officers were stationed every 100 meters along the road as more than 1,500 guests and 200 journalists arrived for the ceremony. Eleven chartered planes flew in from Moscow for the occasion. Everyone was searched at least twice before entering the pavilion.


Before the inauguration, the republic had been a hive of activity. Certain parts of Grozny, which is undergoing enormous rebuilding work, were ordered to be finished by Thursday. Most government workers, including policemen, took part in cleaning up the republic in the days before the ceremony. Fountains were turned on Thursday for the first time this year.

Fonte: The Moscow Times

Seconda e ultima parte dell'articolo:

To celebrate the inauguration, some 10,000 students gathered in Akhmad Kadyrov Square in Grozny, near the statue of Ramzan Kadyrov's father, who was assassinated three years ago, Interfax reported.

Posters of Ramzan Kadyrov were put up across the republic. Students who lined the roads in Grozny and Gudermes to greet arriving guests were outfitted with T-shirts from the president's fan club, Gazeta.ru reported.

One invited guest who did not show was Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, who on a trip to Chechnya in March said the republic was the darkest spot for human rights in all of Europe.

Hammarberg's representative in Chechnya, Mamed Madayev, said the commissioner welcomed political stabilization in the region, but urged the authorities "to investigate these crimes, punish the guilty and give information to the relatives of kidnapped citizens."

Human rights activists have repeatedly accused local law enforcement agents loyal to Kadyrov of crimes such as kidnapping and torturing.

The inauguration was also a time for local leaders to pay tribute to Kadyrov.

Arsen Kanokov, the president of the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, said he and Kadyrov had agreed "never to give each other daggers, Mauser pistols, automatic machine guns or other arms."

"These arms we have already presented to the whole of Russia. And that is why today I brought Kadyrov a painting and also present him with the keys to a Mercedes," Kanokov said, Interfax reported.

Although Chechnya is one of the poorest regions in the country, Kadyrov often receives lavish gifts. On his 30th birthday, Kadyrov was given a Ferrari, reportedly worth $450,000, with his own personalized license plates. Rostselmash, a top manufacturer of agricultural equipment, gave Kadyrov a combine harvester in honor of his inauguration, Itar-Tass reported.

Rostov Governor Vladimir Chub named a riverboat in honor of Kadyrov's father and promised support from the region.

Kadyrov, who commands strong loyalty in the republic's law enforcement agencies, has wielded de facto control of Chechnya since his father's death.

He became first deputy prime minister in May 2004 and was promoted to prime minister in November 2005. Former President Alu Alkhanov left office in February of this year, and Kadyrov became acting head of the republic. Putin then nominated Kadyrov to the presidency.

Now that he has become president, Kadyrov, who praised the power vertical during the ceremony, will likely strengthen his control over the republic even further by trimming the powers of the prime minister, Chechen political analyst Edilbek Khasmagomadov said.

"All the power will become concentrated in the hands of Kadyrov," he said, adding that most Chechens support this trend.

The danger, Khasmagomadov said, is that "the current regime, like the former, will not serve the interests of society and the state, but will place the interests of the family clan in first."


Fonte: The Moscow Times

The widely feared strongman Ramzan Kadyrov was inaugurated Thursday as the new president of Chechnya on a blessing from the Kremlin, which has relied on him to stabilize the region after more than a decade of separatist fighting.

Human rights groups allege that security forces under Kadyrov’s control abduct and torture civilians suspected of ties to Chechnya’s separatist rebels. Some suggest he was tied to last year’s murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had reported extensively on Chechnya’s wars and sufferings. Kadyrov has denied involvement.

Kadyrov, however, is credited with a reconstruction boom that he administered as the region’s prime minister, under which the capital, Grozny, is being transformed from a moonscape of rubble and shattered buildings.

“My main goal is to make Chechnya prosperous and peaceful,” Kadyrov said at the inauguration ceremony.

Kadyrov, 30, is the son of Chechnya’s first pro-Moscow president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in 2004.

The elder Kadyrov became president in 2003 in a Kremlin-conducted vote aimed at undermining rebels by creating the image of Chechens being allowed a high degree of self-determination.

Kadyrov became acting president in February when Russia’s President Vladimir Putin dismissed his predecessor Alu Alkhanov. The regional parliament quickly sealed the nomination with a near-unanimous vote. Alkhanov was elected, but changes in Russian law called for all regional leaders to be appointed.

The reconstruction program has been at the heart of a Kremlin strategy to crush rebels, but critics say the alleged abuses by Kadyrov’s paramilitary forces and by Russian and Chechen police and soldiers severely undermine attempts to bring order to Chechnya.

Analysts say Putin has entrusted Kadyrov with power in part because he is seen as the only person who can keep large numbers of former rebels under control. Many former rebels now serve in the police and security forces.

But his growing clout is also seen as a risk for the Kremlin, particularly after Putin steps down at the end of his second term next year, because some see his loyalty to Russia as being closely tied to his relationship with Putin.

Two wars over the past dozen years between Russian forces and separatist rebels who increasingly voiced militant Islamic ideology left much of the republic in ruins and its people gripped by fear and resentment. Major offensives died down early this decade, but small clashes continue and rebels attack Russian forces with booby-traps and remote-detonated explosives.

Fonte: St. Petersburg Times

GROZNY -- Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov appointed his first cousin, Odes Baisultanov, as prime minister on Tuesday.

Kadyrov was sworn in last week after serving as prime minister.
Baisultanov, 42, an economist, was in charge of logistical support for the Chechen presidential administration. He became first deputy prime minister in March 2006.
The Chechen parliament unanimously approved the appointment of Baisultanov, and senior officials presented him with gifts, including a kinzhal, or ceremonial dagger. Asked by a reporter whether it would be difficult to follow in the footsteps of his cousin, the prime minister replied: "It will be hard, but he has not gone anywhere. He is close by.
"Together we will restore Chechnya and work for the good of our country," he said.
The son of Kadyrov's maternal uncle, Baisultanov grew up in the same Gudermes region of Chechnya as Kadyrov.
Close family links between political figures are not unusual in Chechnya, with blood ties common in the Caucasus region. The Kadyrov clan, former insurgents opposed to Russia's rule of the republic, switched its allegiance to Moscow in exchange for Moscow's backing to run Chechnya.
Akhmad Kadyrov, the former president and Ramzan's father, died in a bomb blast at a stadium in Grozny three years ago.

Fonte: The Moscow Times