JRL NEWSWATCH: “With one video, Russia’s Chechnya problem seizes the spotlight again” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

“In theory, Russian law applies everywhere within Russia’s borders. But over and over, the Chechen republic proves exempt from those rules, no matter how blatant a violation might be.”

“… Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video … show[ing] his teenage son brutally beating up a Russian prisoner … sa[ying] he was ‘proud” of his son’s actions. … [M]any Russians were shocked, and the Kremlin was visibly irritated. … Russia’s military devastated and pacified Chechnya … [T]he Russian government expended vast subsidies to reconstruct Chechnya’s war-ravaged cities. … Moscow did little to reintegrate the republic with Russia’s constitutional order … instead [leaving] Chechnya in the hands of [Kadyrov] who swore fealty to Russia but otherwise had a free hand …. The result is a maze of contradictions, a statelet where Russian law is openly flouted and the official ideology is at odds with the Russian constitution. Yet it is one of the most Kremlin-loyal regions in Russia, and has sent thousands of volunteers to fight … in … Ukraine ….”

Click here for: “With one video, Russia’s Chechnya problem seizes the spotlight again; In theory, Russian law applies everywhere within Russia’s borders. But over and over, the Chechen republic proves exempt from those rules, no matter how blatant a violation might be.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

[featured image is file photo from another occasion]