KAZAN, Russia -- An activist in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan has held a single-person picket demanding Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of the North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya, to be fired over his public threats to kill the family of a rights lawyer.
Ildar Nurmukhametov held the protest action, which does not require preliminary permission from city authorities, on February 9 in central Kazan. During the action, he held a poster saying: "Kadyrov threatens a blood feud with anyone who does not agree with him. Step down!"
A day earlier, the Dozhd television channel officially asked Russia's Investigative Committee to launch a probe against Kadyrov over his public statements threatening to kill Abubakar Yangulbayev, a former lawyer for the Committee Against Torture, and members of his family, calling them "terrorists" and labeling the television channel and an investigative reporter at the Novaya gazeta newspaper, Yelena Milashina, "accomplices of terrorists."
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Chechen Leaders Step Up Threats To Activist's Family As Kremlin Looks On
Novaya gazeta has also asked Russian officials to launch an investigation into Kadyrov over his threats and those made by other Chechen officials, as well as by Adam Delimkhanov, a member of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, who publicly vowed to kill all members of Yangulbayev's family, calling them "terrorists."
The public threats came after Chechen police forcibly took Yangulbayev's mother from her apartment in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, some 1,800 kilometers away from Chechnya, and transferred her to the Chechen capital, Grozny, last month. She was subsequently charged with assaulting a police officer.
Yangulbayev told RFE/RL earlier that he believes authorities are going after his family because of his criticism of Kadyrov and the rights situation in Chechnya. His father, retired federal Judge Saidi Yangulbayev, and his sister had to flee Russia following the threats. Last week, Milashina fled Russia as well.
Journalists, rights activists, and ordinary citizens across Russia have urged the government to take legal measures over the threatening statements by Chechen officials.
Russian and international human rights groups have for years accused Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community. Kremlin critics say Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses and violations carried out by Kadyrov because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya.
Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin launched an online petition on February 7 urging Putin to sack Kadyrov. The petition had more than 161,000 signatures since it was launched.