Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - april 2010

• 2010-05-04
• Europa in de wereld

1 april 2010

Chechen militant leader claims responsibility for Moscow metro bombings: Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed 39 people and injured up to 100. Umarov said the bombings were staged in retaliation to the killing of several civilians in an operation carried out by the FSB against militants in February in Ingushetia, and promised that the attacks would continue. Vremya novostei notes that Umarov's statement, which was dated by 29 March, mentioned nothing about the attacks in Kizlyar. Georgia's Russian-language TV channel First Caucasian yesterday played an audio recording attributed to Umarov in which a male voice denied Chechen militants' responsibility for the Moscow metro blasts. (Lenta.ru, MT, VN)

2 april 2010

Defence Ministry refutes reports alleging that conscripts may be sent to Chechnya: The Defence Ministry on Friday refuted reports alleging that conscripts drafted from outside Chechnya may be sent to serve in Chechnya. Nezavisimaya Gazeta today reports with reference to an unnamed source at the Russian General Staff that military units located in the Northern Caucasus (Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan) would be formed not only with contract servicemen, but also with conscripts. Izvestia recalls that under President Medvedev's decree, 270,600 conscripts are to be drafted between 1 April and 15 July. (Interfax, Izvestia, NG, RIAN)

Medvedev urges businessmen from Northern Caucasus to invest in their native region: President Medvedev called on rich businessmen from the Northern Caucasus to more actively invest in their native regions instead of investing in Moscow or abroad. Medvedev currently expects to receive from his envoy Alexander Khloponin concrete investment proposals in the framework of PPP for the region. Vedomosti recalls that Rosneft decided to open its branch in Chechnya and intends to build a plant in the region to process Caspian gas. Businessman Suleiman Kerimov has started to pay his income tax in Dagestan. RUR2.5bn that Kerimov paid accounts for one third of Dagestan's annual revenue. The founder of AST Group, Telman Ismailov, has agreed to sponsor the Chechen soccer club Terek. (Vedomosti)

Moscow metro female suicide bombers identified?: Yesterday in Dagestan, FSB chief Bortnikov confirmed that the bombings in the Moscow metro and Kizlyar have been committed by "gangs connected with the Northern Caucasus", and added that law enforcement agencies know the masterminds of the attacks and detained "certain people". He did not elaborate. Special services have reportedly identified the female suicide bomber who perpetrated a suicide bombing at the Park Kultury metro station in Moscow on 29 March. Her name is not disclosed, but sources in law enforcement agencies said that she was a resident of Dagestan. Kommersant cites sources at the Investigative Committee who suggested that Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova (or Abdullaeva), the widow of Dagestani militant leader Umalat Magomedov who was killed in an operation in December 2009, set off a bomb in the Lubyanka metro station. Nezavisimaya Gazeta does not rule out that the Moscow metro blasts could have been organized by militants trained by al-Qaeda on the Afghan-Pakistani border. The daily cites in this context some Pakistani and Indian commentators. Russian experts do not exclude a link between North Caucasus militants and Islamists in South Asia. The media continue to comment on a statement by Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov who claimed responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings. Duma members Akhmar Zavgayev and Gadzhimet Safaraliyev, however, cast doubt on Umarov's claim. (Interfax, Izvestia, Kommersant, Lenta.ru, MT, NG, VN)

5 april 2010

Medvedev calls to crackdown on terrorists' accomplices: Meeting the Duma faction leaders on Friday in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev called for toughening legislation for terrorists' accomplices and stressed the need of consolidating public opinion on terrorist attacks. Addressing the death penalty issue, Medvedev said that Russia must fulfill its international obligations, but noted that if he "had worked here [in the Kremlin] in the 1990s, the decision would have been different". The press also refers to Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov who linked Vedomosti and Moskovsky Komsomolets newspapers to terrorists for publishing critical articles between the 29 March attacks in the Moscow metro and 31 March when Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the attacks. Federation Council speaker and Fair Russia leader Sergey Mironov backed Gryzlov's criticism. Medvedev, however, played down the politicians' criticism, saying media criticism of the authorities after terrorist attacks is "normal". (Interfax, Kommersant, MT, RG)

6 april 2010

United Russia member proposes a ban on reproducing terrorists' statements: Member of the Duma's United Russia faction Robert Shlegel has submitted a draft bill amending the media law and envisioning a ban on the reporting of statements made by people wanted on terrorism charges or convicted of terrorism. Shlegel also criticized Google, which owns the video website YouTube, for allowing YouTube to host Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov's claim of responsibility for the 29 March suicide bombings in the Moscow metro. An expert, contacted by Vedomosti, expressed the view that the Shlegel-proposed draft is unlikely to be approved, but did not rule out further changes of legislation on mass media. (Izvestia, Kommersant, Lenta.ru, NG, Vedomosti)

7 april 2010

Lubyanka metro bomber identified:(i) The National Antiterrorist Committee (NAK) on Tuesday confirmed that the suicide bomber who set off a bomb at the Lubyanka metro station on 29 March in Moscow has been identified as Mariam Sharipova, a 28-year-old resident of the village of Balakhani of Dagestan's Untsukul district. According to information possessed by law enforcement bodies, Sharipova was the wife of gang leader Magomedali Vagapov (or Vagabov). In 2005, Sharipova graduated with honours from Dagestan State University. Earlier, Dagestani resident Rasul Magomedov said that he had recognised his daughter after being shown photos of the bomber's remains. (ii) Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov is quoted as having branded as a "lie" Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov's claim of responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings and saying that the claim aimed "to provoke the persecution in Russia of people from the Northern Caucasus so that civilians who are persecuted should begin to support militants". (iii) The Sova analytical centre pointed to an increase in xenophobic attitudes after the suicide bombings in the Moscow metro and said that several racially-motivated attacks were carried out in Moscow on 29 March. (iv) The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed outrage over cartoons about the Moscow metro bombings published in a South Korean newspaper. Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that the editors of the newspaper were fired after the publication of the cartoons. (v) Vedomosti reports, with reference to a spokesperson for Google in Russia, that YouTube has removed a video in which Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov claims responsibility for the Moscow metro blasts on 29 March that killed 40 people and injured more than 100. (Interfax, Izvestia, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia, RG, RIAN, Vedomosti, VN)

Chechen court finds Encyclopedia article extremist: A court in Grozny has qualified as extremist an entry about Chechnya, published in the Big Russian Encyclopedia, and ordered the confiscation of volume 58 of the Encyclopedia. (Kommersant, MT, VN)

8 april 2010

Anti-terrorism unit to be set up in North Caucasus Federal District: (i) President Medvedev has ordered the setting up in the North Caucasus Federal District of an anti-terrorist unit. FSB chief Bortnikov, Interior Minister Nurgaliyev and the head of the Investigative Committee Bastrykin will be responsible for the implementation of this task. Medvedev has also ordered to prepare by the end of this month proposals on a programme to fight against crime and terrorism in the region. Presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Khloponin, FSB chief Bortnikov and Interior Minister Nurgaliyev will be charge. An expert, contacted by Kommersant, pointed to lack of a concept of the fight against terrorism. (ii) Nezavisimaya Gazeta addresses criticism voiced by the head of the Duma's Committee on Security Vladimir Vasilyev towards Russian media coverage of recent crimes and terrorist attacks, saying that the media "divide society into rich and poor". (Izvestia, Kommersant, MT, NG, RG, Novye Izvestia, VN)

9 april 2010

Envoy visits Chechnya, lists main problems in Northern Caucasus: Deputy PM, Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin visited Chechnya on Thursday for talks with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Khloponin named unemployment, housing and education among the problems in the Northern Caucasus. (Izvestia, Kommersant, RIAN, VN)

Chechen President's aide suspected of organizing attack on ex-officer of Vostok battalion: Shaa Turlayev, an advisor to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and former chief of Chechen/Ichkerian president Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard, is suspected of organizing an attempt on the life of former officer of the Russian Defence Ministry's Vostok ('East') battalion Isa Yamadayev, the brother of former commander of the Vostok battalion Sulim Yamadayev who was attacked in Dubai in March 2009. (Kommersant, VN)

16 april 2010

Three military servicemen killed in Chechnya blasts: (i) Three military servicemen were killed and another one injured as a result of two explosions in Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan district on Thursday in the evening. (ii) Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that an explosion was prevented on Thursday in Makhachkala(RG, RIAN)

Envoy offers plan to cut unemployment rate in Northern Caucasus: Kommersant reports on a proposal by Deputy PM, Presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin who has suggested to relocate unemployed people from the Northern Caucasus to Russian regions which experience labor force shortages. The daily recalls that earlier, Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov sought to relocate unemployed residents of Ingushetia to the Sverdlovsk region, but notes that this plan has failed. (Kommersant)

19 april 2010

Envoy to North Caucasus District gets new deputy: Kommersant (Saturday's issue) reports on the appointment of Arkady Yedelev as a deputy to Deputy PM, Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin. Yedelev is former Deputy Interior Minister in charge of the Northern Caucasus. (Kommersant)

Lithuanian woman detained over Moscow metro bombings: A 20-year-old Lithuanian woman, who is a resident of Klaipeda, has been detained on suspicion of being linked to the 29 March suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed 40 people and injured more than 100. The woman was detained at the Vilnius airport while trying to get on a flight to Moscow shortly before two bombs went off in the Moscow metro. Her luggage contained literature about explosives and Moscow metro maps. According to media reports, the woman had a Chechen friend who was killed after returning to the Northern Caucasus. (Izvestia, Kommersant, RG, VN)

22 april 2010

Chechnya President accused of ordering two murders: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered the killing of his two rivals Ruslan and Sulim Yamadayev and ordered the attack on their younger brother Isa, Khavazh Yusupov, who was arrested for the attempt on Isa Yamadayev's life, told investigators. The Chechen President's press service has denied the accusations. (Gazeta.ru, MT, Vedomosti)

27 april 2010

First jury trial begins in Chechnya: The first jury trial began in Chechnya's Supreme Court on Monday. Chechnya has become the last Russian region to introduce jury trials as of 1 January 2010. (ii) Visiting Chechnya, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said that there would be no serious cuts in the police force in the Northern Caucasus. (Gazeta.ru, Interfax, MT)

Chechen President's advisor linked to killing: A spokesman for the Vienna prosecutor's office said on Monday that a probe into the killing in January 2009 in Vienna of a Chechen man has revealed a connection to Shaa Turlayev, an advisor to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, MT)

29 april 2010

Austrian investigators suspect Chechen President of involvement in killing: Austrian investigators suspect Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and his advisor Shaa Turlayev of having a role in the abduction and murder of Chechen refugee Umar Israilov in January 2009 in Vienna. A spokesman for the Vienna prosecutor's office clarified that Israilov's abduction could have been planned, not his murder. Chechen authorities have denied the allegations, saying that the Chechen President had nothing to do with Israilov's murder. (Kommersant, VN)

30 april 2010

Kadyrov critical of Memorial human rights centre's activity in Chechnya: In an interview to foreign journalists, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov criticised activity of the Memorial human rights centre in Chechnya. "Memorial is an organisation financed by the West", he said, adding that "they do whatever they are asked to do by those who pay them". He also dismissed allegations of his involvement in the killing in Vienna in 2009 of a Chechen man. According to the Chechen President, federal and local authorities are fighting with "remains of international terrorist gangs in Chechnya". (Izvestia)