Controversy still dogs troubled Chechnya

↑ Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov does a jig after voting in the elections.

Along with the rest of the Russian Federation, Chechnya went to the polling stations on Sunday, but unlike the rest of the country it is the first time that its people have been able to vote locally since Soviet times.

In an election seen as crucial in the development of this troubled republic, the people have been casting their votes for local governmental positions, as well as voting for the capital Grozny’s new mayor.

Although the country is healing from the scars left by its devastation at the hands of the Russian army and separatists from 1994 to 2009 (Grozny recently won a UN prize for its post-conflict reconstruction), it is a country that is still deeply troubled.

Last week President Ramzan Kadyrov received 50,000 roubles ($1,677) damages from a leading Russian human rights group, Memorial, who had accused him of being behind the murder of one of their activists in July.

Memorial chairman Oleg Orlov rather jumped the gun by stating this, but it is clear that there is a lot to be done before Chechnya can be considered stable. Three NGO workers have been killed in the past year.

Allegations brought forward by one of Kadyrov’s former bodyguards, Usmar Israilov, and published in the New York Times, also point to sometimes shocking human rights violations and suppression of official information.

Mr Israilov, strangely enough, wound up dead: he was murdered by two gunmen in Vienna earlier this year. In the wake of this The New York Times has been able to publish in full his story: it makes for grim but fascinating reading.

Kazyrov was chosen personally by Vladimir Putin in 2007 as a compliant firebrand to lead the republic and has proven to be a loyal strongman for the Russian government.

Even though Chechnya has improved massively since Grozny became a by-word for utter destruction, it appears that it still has a long way to go on the path to any kind of real peace.

↓ Military chic? President Kayzrov (c) with fashion designer Roberto Cavalli (l) last week.