Lawyers criticize anti-alcohol campaign in Chechnya

When commenting on the public apologies voiced by three residents of Chechnya, the lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted that drinking alcoholic beverages in the course of Eid al-Fitr is not an offense and the law enforcement bodies have no legal grounds to blame citizens for violating religious norms.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the "Grozny" TV Company showed a story about three residents of the republic who apologized for buying alcoholic beverages during the Muslim holiday. The news story also contains a video of the educational conversation conducted by the OVD (Interior Division) deputy chief with the young people.

The actions of the law enforcer violate the right of citizens to freedom of religion, believes Yulia Fedotova, a lawyer of the Moscow human rights organization "Pravo-45".

"In fact, the people are being forced to follow religious traditions," Yulia Fedotova told the "Caucasian Knot".

According to the lawyer, the very fact of drinking alcoholic beverages does not constitute an offense, and therefore, the detention of young people can be regarded as an abuse of power.

Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civic Assistance Committee, believes that the young people have apologized as a result of the pressure put on them. Such repressive measures are unlikely to be effective, the human rights defender says.

"No violent measures lead to positive results. They put pressure on those guys, forced them. The young people did not independently record the video and apologized. After the incident, they will be more careful while drinking alcoholic beverages next time. This will not cause other people to decide not to drink alcohol," Svetlana Gannushkina notes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 18, 2019 at 02:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.