EU urges Russia to Respond to Kadyrov's Statements
The European Union Ambassador in Russia, Vygaudas Usackas, believes that the recent statements made by Kadyrov against members of the Russian opposition "are unacceptable in a democratic society."
The Ambassador believes that authorities should immediately respond to the statement of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, against the opposition and the politician Mikhail Kasyanov.
According to the EU office in Moscow, during a telephone conversation between Usackas and Kasyanov, the Ambassador said that he was shocked by the overt threat of murder, which, in his opinion, is expressed in the Instagram video posted by Kadyrov, which shows Kasyanov and Vladimir Kara-Murza being seen through the optical sight of a rifle.
According to Usackas, recent statements made by Kadyrov about the Russian opposition "are unacceptable in a democratic society."
On Tuesday, the chairman of the Moscow branch of the Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, demanded that the FSB (successor to the KGB) initiate a criminal case against Kadyrov and "officials who publicly repeated his words” under a law prohibiting calls for extremism.
In his appeals, Mitrokhin stated that in January of 2016, the head of Chechnya had repeatedly called members of the opposition "traitors," and at a rally in Grozny similar insults were replicated on posters.
The opposition intends to appeal to law enforcement agencies. Kadyrov himself stated that the reaction to his post is "hysteria," saying that he is "a law-abiding citizen" and that he is ready to answer for his words in court.