Is Journalism Worth Dying For?: Final Dispatches (24 page)

“If we return to the amnesty, whose word can be accepted as a guarantee? Putin’s?” I ask.

“Remember Khambiev’s mission to Azerbaijan, when Maskhadov’s ex-Minister of Defence went to Baku on Ramzan’s orders to persuade former fighters to return and accept an amnesty? Nobody came back with him except for two of his relatives, and they were arrested at the border. I have no answer to your question. I think the guarantees need to come not from Ramzan, not from Putin, not from Alkhanov, but only from the law.”

Aslan is 31. He finished school as the USSR was collapsing and Chechnya was vacillating over which legal system to accept. He has been bearing arms for many years, like most men in Chechnya. He lives under a false name, like many in Chechnya. He would like to surrender, but cannot, also like many in Chechnya. Aslan is no longer the future – he is too weary and disillusioned for that – but the future of Chechnya may well depend on how he is treated. What follows is
an interview, almost unedited. Draw your own conclusions: we were talking 24 hours before he surrendered to the Prosecutor’s Office.

“I fought from 2000 to 2002, not from the very beginning of the war. I went to fight because my brother was unjustly imprisoned and my younger brother was seriously injured by a bomb. People were always coming into our house from a variety of agencies and terrorising us. I was no longer prepared to put up with it. It was impossible to stay at home and just wait to be humiliated. I fought in a detachment of 12 men who were loyal to Maskhadov.”

“Why did you give up on Maskhadov?”

“It was hard fighting in the long term, the conditions were hard. Some lads I knew talked to me, and we agreed to go together to take advantage of Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov’s amnesty. I became a Kadyrovite. I was told, ‘You have nothing to worry about. There is nothing against you.’ ”

“What kind of work did you have with Kadyrov?”

“More fighting.”

“Was it more difficult fighting for Kadyrov or for Maskhadov?”

“It was the same. Later they started disbanding the Anti-Terrorist Center to create the North and South Battalions. I realized I was tired of it all. I didn’t want to run around with a rifle any more. I turned over my weapon and vehicle, but soon I discovered that the previous amnesty had not had legal force and prosecutions had begun under Article 205, Part 3 (Acts of Terrorism).”

“Did you have a different attitude towards Akhmat-hadji and Ramzan?”

“Yes. Akhmat-hadji had a better head on his shoulders. He knew what needed doing.”

“Are you afraid of Ramzan?”

“No, I am not afraid of him, but I don’t like him.”

“There was a lot of talk after the death of Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov that if you, all the Kadyrovites and former fighters, were not handed over to Ramzan, who ought to replace his father, you would all go off again to the forests.”

“That was not true. Nobody was planning to return to the forests.
People weren’t even thinking about it as a final resort.”

“How many are there like you, from the disbanded Kadyrovites, who would like to seek an amnesty?”

“I know some 20 people. They want to, but there are no guarantees. Everybody who left Ramzan has discovered that the federal warrant against us has not been lifted.”

“Are you prepared to go back into a different detachment under the amnesty?”

“No. What difference is there whether you go into another detachment or to prison?”

“What hopes do you and those 20 former Kadyrovites have, what are you hoping for?”

“The rule of law. We are waiting for the law to be re-established. But those coming directly from the mountains have no chance at all now, and they know it.”

“What significance did the death of Basayev have for you?”

“None.”

“Who do you feel yourself to be?”

“I am a resistance fighter.”

“What distinguishes a resistance fighter from everybody else? The wish to fight?”

“The inner desire for retribution is what you must have. Just wanting to fight is not enough.”

“Who do you believe now? Who do you trust?”

“Nobody. Alkhanov a little, because he has not promised anything. I don’t believe in people who promise a lot.”

“Patrushev? Putin?”

“I don’t know them. I would need to talk to them face to face before I could trust them.”

“Nevertheless, you are intending to go to the Prosecutor’s Office. What percentage risk do you think you face that they will put you in prison?”

“Eighty per cent.”

“But you are going nevertheless?”

“I’m fed up with fighting.”

RAMZAN KADYROV, THE PRIDE OF CHECHNYA: THE NEW PRIME MINISTER’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE

June 5, 2006

In a few days Russia, and indeed the whole world, will be celebrating the First Hundred Days of the premiership of Ramzan Kadyrov, or so, at least, the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic believes. He is making suitable preparations.

Hands up anyone who still doesn’t know that Ramzan Kadyrov is Ramzan the Builder? He is restoring battered Chechnya to its pre-war appearance, doing away with every trace of the battles which, with brief interruptions, have been taking place here since 1994.

Actually, everybody knows. They know that, without rest, for almost 100 days already, no matter where Kadyrov’s motorcade appears, orders will ring out to increase the speed at which everything he catches sight of is being built. Markets have sprung up, and petrol stations, and holes in the roads have been filled. The fences along them have been painted, temporary refugee camps have been demolished, soup is being made in the hospitals for the patients, and the ground is being marked out for branches of future gas pipelines. The children sing, “God save Ramzan!” No, seriously. Almost every day anthems about today’s living mediator between the Almighty and the people of Chechnya are to be heard on the Republic’s television.

Only one question is rather worrying: whose money is actually paying for this restoration? It seems reasonable to ask. The official answer, being drummed into the heads of the Chechen population, is that it is all being done with Ramzan’s money. OK, he is admittedly very good at extracting money from people, but he isn’t doing this for himself: he’s doing it for the People.

Is that good? Why, it’s absolutely marvellous! Chechnya is, however, awash with rumors about the mechanism of this pumping operation. By word of mouth one hears how much, exactly, each worker is shelling out to the ruling family. For example, the latest of a series of preparatory measures for the Hundred Days celebration concerns the personnel of the Interior Ministry’s Interdepartmental Security Service. (Alkhanov,
the Interior Minister, is a relative of the Kadyrovs and former bodyguard of Kadyrov Senior.) The commanding officers announced at morning parade that the new rates for contributions to the Restoration of Chechnya Fund would be $1,000 each for officers, and 10,000 roubles each for the rank and file (which is quite a whack: these are some rank and file!). Anybody who can’t or doesn’t want to pay up is to be dismissed.

There have no been no reports of dismissals: the Interdepartmental Security Service went to persuade those it protects, the overwhelming majority of whom were only too happy to comply: it was, after all, for the People. All for the sake of the People.

It has to be admitted that Kadyrov Junior is an outstandingly fast-learning pupil of his senior Moscow comrades, including the President of the Russian Federation. What matters is not to actually do things, but to say it was you who did them. This is the main lesson he has learned. Let us dip into the text of Chechen Government Instruction No. 184–r of April 25, 2006, signed by R. Kadyrov. It lists projects financed by capital investment in 2006.

What do we see? Of 27 planned projects, only six are due to be partially financed from “supplementary revenues,” where we may at least surmise the personal participation of Ramzan the Builder with a contribution from the so-called Kadyrov Regional Fund, the chest into which the voluntary contributions of citizens pour. Eighteen projects were fully financed from the Federal Budget by us, the taxpayers of Russia. That covers all repairs to school and boarding-school buildings, the promised gas pipelines to villages, construction of outpatient clinics, even the restoration of the “Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov State Museum.” Two other projects are financed jointly by the federal budget and the Federal Regional Development Fund. In other words, in 19 projects out of 27 Kadyrov Junior has played no part whatsoever. He has only had to keep an eye on things to stop the funds from being trousered. Or …?

An “or” has to be conceded. Ramzan is allowed to do anything he likes. As the sole inheritor of the noble mission of Kadyrov Senior, he knows better than the Chechens how to spend money on the People.
The basis of this claim is the belief that Kadyrov Senior was the middleman between the Almighty and the People, the Best of the Best, as he was called, and that he has bestowed this vicarious mission upon his son.

The legend of the Best of the Best, of course, requires constant cosmetic attention. Leaving it to develop spontaneously would be the utmost folly, and that is why Kadyrov Junior’s Hundred Days has fused naturally with the “Republic’s preparations to mark the 55th anniversary of the birth of the first President of the Chechen Republic, Hero of Russia, Akhmed Kadyrov,” as Government Order No. 241 of May 24, 2006, signed by R. Kadyrov, puts it. The odd idea of marking this anniversary is in fact a convenient way of bypassing such undesirable distractions as Victory Day, because it would clearly be inappropriate to have Chechens celebrating May 9 when that is also the day Kadyrov Senior was blown up. That consideration must clearly take priority over any rejoicing at the victory over fascism.

No creative initiatives are invited as to how to mark Akhmet-hadji Kadyrov’s 55th birthday. The Son of the Best of the Best has already made all the “preparations.” These the document lists as:

1. Quotations from A. Kadyrov to be used in television broadcasts:
   

   “My aim is not to stop the war, but to end war once and for all;” “My weapon is the Truth, in the face of which any army is powerless.”
   

2. A list of those to be interviewed about Kadyrov Senior. Who are they?
   

   First and foremost, the son: “Interview with R. Kadyrov, ‘My Father Taught Me How To Live’;” followed by “Reminiscences by Khozh-Akhmed Kadyrov” (an uncle), “He Grew even as I Watched;” and “Speech by the Chairman of the People’s Assembly of the Chechen Republic, D.B. Abdurakhmanov, ‘A.A. Kadyrov – Architect of Peaceful Construction in Chechnya’ ”
   

3. Titles of publications and their contents:
   

   1. Publication in the newspaper
   Vesti
   , “A.A. Kadyrov – A Leader for his Times.” The historical inevitability of A. Kadyrov’s appearance on the political stage of Chechnya and Russia.
   

   3. Publication in the newspaper
   Molodezhnaya smena
   , “A. Kadyrov, the Peacemaker.”
   

    … 17. Broadcasts on Vainakh and Grozny TV: “V.V. Putin and A.A. Kadyrov, Architects of New Russo-Chechen Relations;” “A. Kadyrov, the Diplomat.”
   

   18. Broadcasts on Radio Vainakh and Radio Grozny:
   

   “He United All the Muslims of Chechnya.”
   

    … 34. Television series, “A. Kadyrov: the Highway of Life”(weekly).
   

   35. Humorous program, “Smiling Kadyrov” (The “Chechen Fingerprints” team).
   

    … 38. Congratulatory telegrams and messages. Appreciations of the merits of A. Kadyrov.
   

    … 42. Billboards, street banners, wall hangings, “R. Kadyrov: ‘I Will Carry my Father’s Cause Forward to a Victorious Conclusion’ ” …
   

   This plan, egregious even by present-day standards, includes a list of publications which must without fail be published in June as Ramzan’s Hundred Days near the finishing line:
   … 5. Publication in the magazine
   Nana
   , “A.A. Kadyrov Remembered by his Comrades-in-Arms, Family and Friends.”
   

   6. Publication in the magazine
   Orga
   (a writers’ magazine), “A Portrait of A.A. Kadyrov, the Artist.”
   

   7. Publication in the magazine
   Vainakh:
   poetry by various authors and dedicated to A.A. Kadyrov.
   

    … 10. Broadcast on State TV and Radio. Chat-show “ ‘I Am a Citizen.’ A. Kadyrov, the Man who Restored the Good Name of Chechens.”
   

4. Events:
   

    … 23. Scholarly symposium, “The Role and Significance of A. Kadyrov in Modern History.”
   

   24. Competition to find the best reader. Poetry dedicated to A.A. Kadyrov.
   

   25. Exhibition of children’s drawings, “Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov, the Man who Brought Peace to our Home.”
   

To be arranged by R. Alkhanov, Interior Minister: oath of loyalty to the cause of A.A. Kadyrov and presentation to the best militia division of a standard bearing the portrait of A. Kadyrov.

*   *   *

Ramzan Kadyrov is still a very young man and hasn’t read much history, but what about those who grew up long ago, and remember when plans exactly like these were drawn up by central committees, municipal committees, district committees, and all the rest of them on the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Lenin, the 70th Anniversary of the Birth of Brezhnev, and so on ad nauseam?

To be fair, we should mention that the 55th anniversary celebrations are being financed by the A. Kadyrov Foundation with funds extorted by official racketeers from the Chechen people.

One striking example of the Foundation’s financial practices is provided by the recent inaugural Chechen beauty contest, organised within the framework of the Hundred Days. As we know, Kadyrov Junior undertook to make the people around him as happy as possible during this period.

Both Kadyrov Junior and his “team,” as it is now customary to call them, went out of their way to emphasise that the beauty contest was the brainchild of Ramzan. He is richer today than his father ever was, effectively an oligarch, wallowing in money and enjoying throwing it about, as the contest was to show.

After the jury had announced the name of the winner and many girls had been awarded cars, a celebratory dinner was held in a Gudermes restaurant. Kadyrov Junior and several dozen bodyguards arrived. The winners were commanded to dance for him and his entourage and, as the dancing continued, Kadyrov Junior ordered his bodyguards to throw banknotes at the young ladies, $100 and 1,000-rouble banknotes.