Ramzan Kadyrov
Encyclopedia
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ' onMouseout='HidePop("4567")' href="/topics/Tsentoroi">Tsentoroi
Tsentoroi
Tsentoroy is a rural locality in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located east-southeast of Grozny, the republic's capital, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains....

, RSFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....

, USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) is the President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...

 and a former Chechen rebel.

Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad Kadyrov
Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...

, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov
Alu Alkhanov
Alu Dadashevich Alkhanov is a Russian politician, the former president of Russia's Chechen Republic.Alkhanov is a career police officer who fought within the ranks of the Russian army during the First Chechen War. He was elected president on August 30, 2004, under controversial circumstances...

 as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He has the support of former Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 and was awarded the Hero of Russia medal, the highest honorary title
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...

 of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. Kadyrov was engaged in violent power struggles
Sulim Yamadaev/Ramzan Kadyrov Power Struggle
The Sulim Yamadaev/Ramzan Kadyrov power struggle was a feud between rival pro-Moscow Chechen warlords that exploded into armed confrontation between Yamadaev’s Special Battalion “Vostok” forces and Chechen President Kadyrov’s militia known as the “Kadyrovtsy” following an incident in the town of...

; with fellow Chechen government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

s Sulim Yamadayev
Sulim Yamadayev
Sulim Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. He was de facto commander of the Russian military Special Battalion...

 and Said-Magomed Kakiev
Said-Magomed Kakiev
Said-Magomed Shamaevich Kakiyev is the leader of the GRU Spetsnaz Special Battalion West , a pro-Moscow Chechen military force. Inside Chechnya his men are sometimes referred to as the Kakievtsy...

 for overall military authority, and with Alu Alkhanov
Alu Alkhanov
Alu Dadashevich Alkhanov is a Russian politician, the former president of Russia's Chechen Republic.Alkhanov is a career police officer who fought within the ranks of the Russian army during the First Chechen War. He was elected president on August 30, 2004, under controversial circumstances...

 for political authority.

As President of Chechnya, Kadyrov has been credited for bringing some peace and stability to the region. He has also launched federally-sponsored renovations of the Chechen capital Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

, which have completely transformed the war-ravaged city. On the other hand, he has come under heavy criticism from international press and even at times, Russia, for allegations of corruption
Corruption in Russia
Corruption in Russia is a significant problem that impacts the lives of Russia’s citizens. Russia is on the 154th place out of 178 in the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International...

 and human rights
Human rights in Russia
The rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by Chapter 2 of the Constitution adopted in 1993.Russia is the signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has also ratified a number of other international human rights instruments, including the...

 violations.

Ramzan Kadyrov is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (Российская Академия Естественных Наук, not to be confused with the much more prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

).

Early life

A reckless and impetuous person at school, Ramzan Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad Kadyrov
Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...

, a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

. He claims that he always emulated his father. Ramzan enjoys boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 and once met with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

.

In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 splintered into fragments
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, the Chechens launched a bid for independence. The Kadyrovs joined the struggle and fought against the federal forces, with Ramzan, from the age of 16, leading a small unit of separatist fighters in the First Chechen War
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...

, and Akhmad becoming the rebel mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...

 of Chechnya.

Militia leader

The Kadyrov clan defected
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...

 to the Moscow side at the beginning of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....

 in 1999. Since then, Ramzan has led his militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 with support from Russia's FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...

 state security
State Security
State Security can refer to:* general concepts of security agency or national security* Committee for State Security * State Security * State Security...

 service (including service ID cards) and become the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service
Presidential Security Service
Presidential Security Service , or PSS for short, is a South Korean close protection agency. Based on the United States Secret Service, the South Korean PSS is an independent agency responsible for the protection of the President of South Korea and the Blue House.The unit is currently being...

. The militia became later known as the Kadyrovites.

He was falsely rumoured to have died of a gunshot
Gunshot
A gunshot is the discharge of a firearm, producing a mechanical sound effect and a chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a gunshot wound caused by such a discharge. Multiple discharges of a firearm or firearms are referred to as gunfire. The word can connotate either the sound of a...

 wound inflicted by his bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...

 on 28 April 2004.

Deputy Prime Minister

After his father, then Chechen President, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, Ramzan was appointed Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...

 of the Chechen Republic.

When his sister was detained by the Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...

 police in January 2005, Ramzan and some 150 armed men drove to the Khasavyurt
Khasavyurt
Khasavyurt is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1846 and granted town status in 1931. The main local industries are food processing, brick making and garment making....

 City Police (GOVD) building. According to the city mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

, Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against the wall and assaulted them, after which they left the building with Zulai Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air."

In August 2005, Ramzan declared that "Europe's largest mosque" would be built in place of the demolished ruins of Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

's shattered downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

. He also claimed that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it would also be "the wealthiest and the most peaceful" place in the world. He said that the war was already over with only 150 "bandits" remaining (as opposed to the official figures of 700 to 2,000 rebel
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...

 fighters), and that thanks to his father, 7,000 separatists had already defected to the Russian side since 1999. When responding to a question on how he is going to "avenge the murder of his father", Ramzan said:

Acting Prime Minister

Following a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...

 in December 2005, in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured, Ramzan functioned as the caretaker prime minister. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

 law, such as declaring a ban on gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 production, while speaking in favour of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...

.

In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons, he accused the Danes of "spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

ing" and being "pro-terrorist". He also banned Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council
Danish Refugee Council
Danish Refugee Council is a private Danish humanitarian organisation, founded in 1956. It serves as an umbrella organization for 33 member organizations....

, the largest NGO working in the region. Kadyrov is quoted as saying, "That cartoonist needs to be buried alive." He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, a rare example of federal intervention
Interventionism (politics)
Interventionism is a term for a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy or society...

 in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.

Prime Minister

On 1 March 2006, Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency that he did so "on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government." This was followed by a decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

 of Kadyrov forcing women to wear
Islam and clothing
Adherents of Islam are concerned with clothing in two contexts: clothing for everyday wear, inside and outside the house; and clothing required in specifically religious contexts....

 headscarves
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....

; he also rejected a federal appropriation of the republic's budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...

, demanding more money, and called for all federal forces but the border guard
Border guard
The border guard, frontier guard, border patrol, border police, or frontier police of a country is a national security agency that performs border control, i.e., enforces the security of the country's national borders....

s to be withdrawn.

Shortly after taking office, Kadyrov approved a project to erect a presidential palace
Presidential Palace
A Presidential Palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. However, some countries do not call the official residence of a head of state a presidential palace...

 on a 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) plot by the Sunzha River
Sunzha River
The Sunzha is a river in North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, Russia, a right tributary of Terek River. It is 278 km long. The Sunzha rises on the Northern slope of the Caucasus Major. Its major tributaries are the Assa River and Argun River. With a turbidity of 3,800 g/m³, it carries 12,2...

 in ruined downtown Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

. The project, which will also include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, is estimated to cost around 1.5 billion ruble
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...

s ($54 million USD) to build. Later, Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered across Chechnya to be closed down, calling the refugees "international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilize the situation in our region". Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

 quoted him as saying that "liquidating the refugee camps will allow us to uncover spies who are working for foreign intelligence services".

On 5 June 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly
People's Assembly
People's Assembly refers to various legislative bodies:Ancient:* People's Assembly or Plebeian Council of Ancient Rome* Other Ancient Roman assembliesModern:* People's Assembly of Abkhazia...

 Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow that "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency
Presidency
The word presidency is often used to describe the administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation...

; Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody," he said. Later that year, Umar Dzhabrailov
Umar Dzhabrailov
Umar Aliyevich Dzhabrailov  — Russian statesman; is the current volunteer Advisor’s to the President Sergei Prikhodko Assistant, vice president of the Artists Union of Russia, philanthropist, connoisseur of modern art.The representative of the Federation Council of Russia from the executive body...

, Chechnya’s representative in the Federation Council
Federation Council
Federation Council may refer to:* Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia* Federation Council , an organization in the fictional Star Trek universe-See also:...

 and a close ally of Kadyrov's, urged Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov to initiate a measure calling on Kadyrov to become the republic’s president, thereby replacing Alu Alkhanov. The following week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya was lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov would replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president. Other media, however, reported that Kadyrov continued to strengthen his position at Alkhanov's expense.

On 6 December 2006, Kadyrov said he that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (specifically Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Aleksandr Studenikin). In addition, Kadyrov said the war in Chechnya was unleashed not by the Chechen people but by the Russian leadership. Kadyrov’s comments may have represented his government’s increasing unhappiness with certain figures in Moscow, who were said to be blocking his elevation to the post of Chechen president. In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Ramzan Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

".

On 5 February 2007, Kadyrov said he did not aspire to become the Chechen president; however, he criticized Alkhanov. Kadyrov also claimed the war in Chechnya
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...

 was ultimately finished, with "all informal armed groups eliminated". Alkhanov, for his part, criticized "the cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...

 and idealization of one person," a clear reference to Kadyrov, whose enormous portraits are prominently displayed in Grozny.

President

On 15 February 2007, Putin signed a decree removing Alkhanov and installing Kadyrov as Chechen's acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...

. On 2 March 2007, following Putin's nomination of Kadyrov as Chechen president, the Chechen parliament approved the nomination. In the following days, serious changes took place in the administrative set-up of the republic, affecting both the top- and middle-ranking officials. Former deputy prime minister Odes Baysultanov (a cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...

 of Kadyrov's) was elevated to the vacant post of prime minister. Critics allege that Ramzan Kadyrov is actively building his own "vertical of power" in the republic, and encouraging nepotism by placing men of the Beno
Beno
Beno is a Biblical name meaning "his son"Beno may also refer to:First name:*Beno Eckmann*Beno Gutenberg*Benő Káposzta*Beno Lapajne*Beno UdrihLast name:*Martin Beno...

 clan in all the leading and important positions.

A Russian daily, Gazeta
Gazeta
gazeta.ru is a Russian online newspaper covering politics and business. The first issue was published on 28 February 1999. Once controlled by Vladislav Borodulin, the editor-in-chief of the business daily Kommersant, gazeta.ru was sold in 2005 to Sekret Firmy Publishing, a publishing house...

, reported that according to a poll conducted by the independent Levada Center
Levada Center
Levada Center is a Russian independent, non-governmental polling and sociological research organisation. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada . Levada Center traces back its history to 1987 when VCIOM was founded, originally headed by Academician...

, only 33 percent of Russians believe that Ramzan Kadyrov can be trusted, while 35 percent believed that he cannot. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalize the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no.

On 14 March 2007, Kadyrov said that human rights abuses were "a thing of the past" in his republic, rejecting new charges of torture made by the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

. Two days later he accused the federal authorities of torturing detainees. On 19 March 2007, Kadyrov vowed to put an end to all remaining guerilla activity in Chechnya within two months. On 5 April 2007, Kadyrov was sworn in as President of Chechnya.

After the car-bomb attack on Yunus-bek Yevkurov
Yunus-bek Yevkurov
Yunus-bek Bamatgireyevich Yevkurov is the current president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev on 30 October 2008...

, president of the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia, which took place on 22 June 2009, Kadyrov claimed that the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents there, and during his subsequent visit to the republic on 24 June pledged ruthless vengeance.

Late December 2009 Kadyrov claimed that remaining rebels where getting financed by "The West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

"; "I officially declare this: those who destroyed the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, those who want to destroy the Russian Federation, they stand behind them". He also suggested he did not seek another term as President and that Russia should attack Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 "It's Russia's private affliction; why should we always suffer if we can eradicate this for good?".

2007 appeal against Kadyrov

In May 2007, more than 100 members of Britain's political and cultural elite have appealed to President Vladimir Putin of Russia to restore "peace and justice" to Chechnya, calling Kadyrov's presidency "little more than a regime of fear and oppression".

Attempts at consolidation of the Chechen nation

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, an independent human rights resource, on 5 February 2009, "in the course of his meeting in Grozny with Ramzan Ampukaev, representative of the Chechen Diaspora in Europe, Ramzan Kadyrov invited former militants, now living in Europe, to come back home":
"Now, the situation in the republic has stabilized, we witness a steady economic growth, and there's no sense for people to leave. And those who are already abroad, can always come back. We'll help them in every possible way," said Mr. Kadyrov. "All sorts of Emirs and former participants of illegal armed formations, who are now Europe and whose actions were not aggravated by bloody crimes, have two alternatives: either to come back and serve for the welfare of their homeland, or stay there till the end of their days."

Personal life

Kadyrov is married and has seven children: Ahmad, Adam, Aishat, Karina, Hedy and Tabarik. Kadyrov is a noted collector of sports cars. He is also known for his extensive collection of Chechen daggers On 5 October 2011 he celebrated his 35th birthday in a lavish fashion in the presence of several Hollywood stars, including the actor Jean-Claude van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...

 and the actress Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...

 as well as Lebanese pop Artist Rola Saad
Rola Saad
Rola Youssef Saad is a Lebanese pop singer and model who emerged in the mid 2000s and is most commonly known for her collaboration with Lebanese singing Legend Sabah-Biography:...

, British violinist Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...

, singer Seal
Seal
Seal commonly refers to:* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals many of which are commonly called seals* Seal , a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join...

 and many others. When asked where the money for the live-televised celebration were coming from, he reportedly laughed and said that "Allah gives it to us".

Chechen economic recovery and reconstruction

On 4 March 2006, Dukhvakha Abdurakhmanov, chair of the Chechen People's Assembly, stated that Kadyrov "has proven his capability to govern the economy, not only the power structures." The Chair of the Assembly also said that in a few months the republic had fulfilled more objectives than the republic's federal economic enterprise had undertaken to fulfill in the initial five years of reconstruction in Chechnya. Abdurakhmanov noted that Kadyrov's management had already successfully completed the reconstruction of two large Grozny avenues, had repaired the local roads, was intensively conducting reconstruction work, building new mosques, sports centers, and hospitals.

In 2006 the production of Chechnya's industry increased by 11.9%. In 2007, the rate of growth was 26.4%.

In February 2010, head of the British delegation of the Human Rights Group Lord Judd, formerly "bitterly critical of the Russian authorities for the situation in Chechnya", pointed out a striking change for the better in the Russian North Caucasus republic. Judd said that changes which occurred since his visit as a member of PACE delegation in 2000 were "so overwhelming that sometimes you forget about what happened here until quite recently".

2009 assassination attempt

An assassination attempt on Kadyrov and a parliament member Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Sultanovich Delimkhanov is a Chechen politician who has been member of the Russian State Duma for the United Russia party since 2007....

 was averted on 23 October 2009, by the police. Chechen Deputy interior minister
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...

 Roman Edilov said the police shot dead the driver of a speeding car filled with a 200-litre tanker after firing warning shots shortly before Kadyrov was to arrive at a construction site. The driver of the car was later identified as a militant leader (so-called Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River. The town is located in the central part of the republic, to the southwest of the capital Grozny. Population:...

 emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 Beslan Bashtayev). Said-Emi Khizriev, who played a role in organizing the attack, was killed by Russian police who tried to arrest him in the Michurin village in Grozny. Khazriev planned and took part in explosions at two gas stations in Gudermes in the spring of last year, as well as in an armed attack at a sport club in the city.

Accusations of human rights abuses

According to some media, Kadyrov has been personally implicated in several instances of torture and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

. A number of Chechens opposed to Kadyrov have been assassinated abroad, and several witnesses (including Artur Kurmakaev and Ruslan Khalidov) report the existence of a 300-name "Murder List". Chechens who have been murdered, where Kadyrov's involvement is suspected, include Movladi Baisarov
Movladi Baisarov
Movladi Baisarov was a Chechen warlord and former Federal Security Service special-task unit commander. Baisarov was shot dead on the street in central Moscow by members of the Chechen extra-agency guard on November 18, 2006.-Career:...

 and Ruslan Yamadaev (both Moscow); Sulim Yamadaev (Dubai); Gazhi Edilsutanov, Islam Dzahnibekov, Ali Osaev (Istanbul); and Umar Israilov
Umar Israilov
Umar S. Israilov was a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov who became a critic of the Chechen regime...

 (Vienna).

Kadyrov claims (in December 2009) that he had personally helped many of the murder victims and their families and was not their enemy. "I don't want to kill, who did I fight? I fought terrorists. Who did I protect? I protected the whole of Russia so that people in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 or St Petersburg... could live in peace. They accuse me of killing women and children. It's not true."
  • A mutinied commander, Movladi Baisarov
    Movladi Baisarov
    Movladi Baisarov was a Chechen warlord and former Federal Security Service special-task unit commander. Baisarov was shot dead on the street in central Moscow by members of the Chechen extra-agency guard on November 18, 2006.-Career:...

    , said about Kadyrov: "He acts like a medieval tyrant. If someone tells the truth about what is going on, it's like signing one's own death warrant. Ramzan is a law unto himself. He can do anything he likes. He can take any woman and do whatever he pleases with her. (...) Ramzan acts with total impunity. I know of many people executed on his express orders and I know exactly where they were buried." On 18 November 2006, Baisarov was killed in an ambush by members of Kadyrov's police on Moscow's Leninsky Prospekt
    Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow
    Leninsky Avenue is a major avenue in Moscow, Russia, that goes from Oktyabrskaya in the central part of the city to Yugo-Zapadnaya in the outskirts....

    , only a few hundred meters from the Kremlin.

  • On 13 November 2006, Human Rights Watch
    Human Rights Watch
    Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

     published a briefing paper on torture in Chechnya that it had prepared for the 37th session of the United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

     Committee Against Torture. The paper covered torture by personnel of the Second Operational Investigative Bureau (ORB-2), torture by units under the effective command of Ramzan Kadyrov, torture in secret detentions and the continuing "disappearances." According to HRW, torture "in both official and secret detention facilities is widespread and systematic in Chechnya." In many cases the perpetrators were so confident that there would be no consequences for their abuses that they did not even attempt to conceal their identity. Based on extensive research, HRW concluded in 2005 that forced disappearance
    Forced disappearance
    In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...

    s in Chechnya are so widespread and systematic that they constitute crimes against humanity.

  • Anna Politkovskaya
    Anna Politkovskaya
    Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...

    , a veteran Russian reporter (murdered in 2006; case unsolved as of April 2010) who specialized in Chechnyan reporting, claimed that she had received a grainy video footage
    Footage
    In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...

     shot on a mobile phone of a man identical in appearance to Ramzan. "....On them (the clips) were the murders of federal servicemen
    Soldier
    A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

     by the Kadyrovites, and also kidnappings directed by Kadyrov. These are very serious things; on the basis of this evidence a criminal case and investigation should follow. This could allow this person to be brought to justice, something he has long richly deserved," she said. She was allegedly working on an article revealing human rights abuses and regular incidences of torture in Chechnya at the time of her murder. Some observers alleged that Kadyrov or his men were possibly behind the assassination.

  • On 23 October 2006, a criminal case was registered on the basis of the video tape frames published by the Novaya Gazeta
    Novaya Gazeta
    Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....

     newspaper in Anna Politkovskaya's article. Sergey Sokolov, deputy editor-in-chief of the paper, told the Echo Moskvy Radio that it can be clearly seen in the video as to how "Kadyrov's military forces are beating federal soldiers" with participation of "a man looking like Ramzan Kadyrov." On 7 October 2006, Politkovskaya was found shot dead in an elevator in her apartment in Moscow.

  • German
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     human rights
    Human rights
    Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

     group the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV)
    Society for Threatened Peoples
    Society for Threatened Peoples is an international NGO and human rights organization based in Göttingen, Germany. It seeks to create awareness of and protect minority peoples around the world who are threatened by oppressive governments. The group states on its website that it "campaigns against...

    , which branded Kadyrov a "war criminal", has alleged that up to 75 percent of recent incidents of murder, torture, rape
    Rape
    Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

     and kidnapping
    Kidnapping
    In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

     in Chechnya have been committed by Ramzan's paramilitary
    Paramilitary
    A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

     forces.

  • The Memorial
    Memorial (society)
    Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....

     group investigator stated in its report: "Considering the evidence we have gathered, we have no doubt that most of the crimes which are being committed now in Chechnya are the work of Kadyrov’s men. There is also no doubt in our minds that Kadyrov has personally taken part in beating and torturing people. What they are doing is pure lawlessness. To make matters worse, they also go after people who are innocent, whose names were given by someone being tortured to death. He and his henchmen spread fear and terror in Chechnya. (...) They travel by night as death squad
    Death squad
    A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...

    s, kidnapping civilians, who are then locked in a torture chamber
    Torture chamber
    A torture chamber is a room where torture is inflicted.- Methods of coercion :According to Frederick Howard Wines in his book Punishment and Reformation: A Study Of The Penitentiary System there were three main types of coercion employed in the torture chamber: Coercion by the cord, by water and...

    , rape
    Rape
    Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

    d and murdered".

  • According to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
    International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
    The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights was a self-governing group of non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations that act to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia...

    , many illegal places of detention
    Detention (imprisonment)
    Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...

     exist in the Chechen Republic; most of them are run by Kadyrovites. In Tsentoroi (Khosi-Yurt), where the Kadyrovite headquarters
    Headquarters
    Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...

     is located, there are at least two illegal prisons functioning. One consists of concrete bunker
    Bunker
    A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

    s or pillbox
    Pillbox
    Pillbox may refer to:* A pill organizer* Pillbox hat* Military term for a type of bunker* For military pillboxes in the UK, see: British hardened field defences of World War II...

    es, where kidnapped relatives of armed Chechen fighters are held hostage while the second prison in Tsentoroi is evidently located in the yard — or in immediate vicinity — of the house of Ramzan Kadyrov.

  • The Kadyrovites are often accused of working as a death squad against Kadyrov's enemies. Ramzan is rumoured to own a private prison
    Prison
    A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

     in his stronghold of Tsentoroi
    Tsentoroi
    Tsentoroy is a rural locality in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located east-southeast of Grozny, the republic's capital, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains....

    , his home village south-east of Grozny. Fields around Tsentoroi are allegedly mined and all access routes are blocked by checkpoint
    Checkpoint
    - Places :* Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected** Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War...

    s. On 2 May 2006, representatives of the Council of Europe
    Council of Europe
    The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

    's Committee for the Prevention of Torture
    Committee for the Prevention of Torture
    The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or shortly Committee for the Prevention of Torture is the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe...

     (CPT) alleged that they were prevented from entering the fortress.

  • A video leaked out in which armed men, loyal to Kadyrov, displayed the severed head of a Chechen guerrilla (who was killed in July 2006) for public display in the village of Kurchaloi, marking the brutality of his forces. They mounted the head on a pipe, together with blood-stained trousers and put a cigarette on him. It was displayed for at least a day as they came back a day later to record it again. On 21 September 2005 a similar incident occurred, as published by Memorial as well as Kavkazky Uzel which described "shocking details" of a special operation conducted by forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov.

  • On 1 March 2007, Lyudmila Alexeyeva
    Lyudmila Alexeyeva
    Lyudmila Mikhailovna Alexeyeva is a Russian historian, human rights activist, founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, and one of the few veterans of the Soviet dissident movement still active in modern Russia.-Soviet period:...

    , the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group
    Moscow Helsinki Group
    The Moscow Helsinki Group is an influential human rights monitoring non-governmental organization, originally established in what was then the Soviet Union; it still operates in Russia....

     rights organisation, stated "Kadyrov is to blame for kidnappings of many innocent people. Their bodies were found later with signs of torture."

  • Umar Israilov
    Umar Israilov
    Umar S. Israilov was a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov who became a critic of the Chechen regime...

     was assassinated in Vienna
    Vienna
    Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

     on 13 January 2009. Israilov was a former Kadyrov bodyguard, who cooperated with The New York Times
    The New York Times
    The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

    , extensively detailing abuses committed by Kadyrov and his associates. Israilov had told Austrian authorities in 2008 that he had been threatened by an agent sent by Kadyrov to drop his lawsuit against the Chechen leader at the European Court of Human Rights
    European Court of Human Rights
    The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

     in Strasbourg
    Strasbourg
    Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

    . On 27 April 2010, the Austria
    Austria
    Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

    n prosecutor’s office
    Staatsanwaltschaft
    The Staatsanwaltschaft or public prosecutor's offices are criminal justice bodies attached to the judiciary but separate from the courts in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland...

     announced that they believed Ramzan Kadyrov had ordered the kidnapping of Israilov and Israilov had been murdered while attempting to escape. According to the investigation, there was evidence that Otto Kaltenbrunner (adopted name of Ramzan Edilov), one of the suspected kidnappers, had been in contact with Kadyrov personally. Kadyrov's office denied the accusations.

  • On 15 July 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a member of Memorial society
    Memorial (society)
    Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....

    , who investigated the alleged abuses by government-backed militias in Chechnya, was abducted and shot to death. Memorial's chairman Oleg Orlov accused Kadyrov of being behind the murder, and claimed that Kadyrov had openly threatened her by saying: "Yes, my hands are up to the elbows in the blood. And I am not ashamed of that. I will kill and kill bad people". Kadyrov denied any involvement in the killing and promised to investigate the killing personally. He condemned the killers, and in response to Orlov's accusations, said: "You are not a prosecutor or a judge therefore your claims about my guilt are not ethical, to put it mildly, and are insulting to me. I am sure that you have to think about my rights before declaring for everyone to hear that I am guilty of Estemirova's death." It was later reported that Kadyrov would be suing Memorial for defamation and slander, targeting Orlov personally with his complaint.

Sex scandal

On 12 March 2006, a Chechen separatist website posted a short video shot on a mobile phone of a party in a sauna involving two alleged prostitutes and several men, including one who looks and sounds exactly like Ramzan Kadyrov, seen dancing with a young, half-naked woman and trying to rip her bra off. Another man then starts masturbating in front of them. Andrew Osborn, Moscow reporter for the Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

, reports that "Mr Kadyrov's aides have laughed off the grainy video . . . as a 'provocation'."

However, according to a member of Kadyrov's entourage, "The people around him know that Kadyrov is a psycho
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...

 who likes, for example, having sex while being observed by prisoners from his private jail, located in the village of Tsentoroi; the onlookers are forced to masturbate."

Call to quarantine proceeds of horse race

On 3 November 2009 a horse owned by Ramzan Kadyrov, Mourilyan, ran third in the Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

 winning about US$380,000 in prize money. The leader of the Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, Senator Bob Brown
Bob Brown
Robert James Brown is an Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens and was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia...

, immediately called for the Government of Australia
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

 to quarantine the prize money until assurances are received as to how the money will be used. Concerns had been previously raised that the Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

 could be used to launder money by overseas individuals.

Honor killings

In 2009, Kadyrov stated his approval of honor killing
Honor killing
An honor killing or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community...

s, based on the belief that women are the property of their husbands.

Wikileaks

On 28 November 2010 a classified
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...

 Wikileaks cable named Kadyrov as a "starring guest" at some of Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...

's most elaborate weddings, which indicates the political "Caucasus power structure" in these weddings.
In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia's Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Ramzan Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

".

Honours and awards

Russian Federation:
  • Hero of the Russian Federation
    Hero of the Russian Federation
    Hero of the Russian Federation is a Russian decoration and the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that...

     (29 December 2004) - for courage and heroism in the line of duty
  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland
    Order of Merit for the Fatherland
    The Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....

    , 4th class (9 August 2006) - for courage, bravery and selflessness in the line of duty. The award was presented by Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev. Kadyrov said that "this is a very high reward for me and for our country".
  • Order of Courage
    Order of Courage
    The Order of Courage is a decoration presented by the government of the Russian Federation. Established in 1994, the order is presented for "acts of courage or self-sacrifice."- External links :* *...

     (2003)
  • Medal "For Distinction in Protection of Public Order" (2002, 2004)
  • Medal "For Services to conduct national census"
  • Certificate of Merit of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (2009)
  • Zhukov Medal, twice
  • 850th Anniversary of Moscow Medal
    850th Anniversary of Moscow Medal
    The 850th Anniversary of Moscow Medal was a medal in Russia. It was established by Presidential Decree no 132 of February 26, 1997 in commemoration of the 850th anniversary of the first Russian reference to Moscow, dating to 1147 when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon the prince of the Novgorod-Severski...

  • Medal "In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg"
  • Military Merit (MOD), Grade 2


Chechen Republic
  • Order of Akhmad Kadyrov (18 June 2005) - for services in the restoration of state authority and a personal contribution to the defense of the fatherland. The press service of the Chechen President noted that the reason for awarding the Order served and the activities of Kadyrov's "maintenance of law and order and public security in the Chechen Republic"
  • Order "For the development of parliamentarism in the Chechen Republic" (September 2007)
  • Medal "Defender of the Chechen Republic" (2006) - for services in the development of the Chechen Republic


Foreign
  • Medal "Astana 10 years" (Kazakhstan, 2008)


Public and agency:
  • Order "Al-Fahr», 1st class (Council of Muftis of Russia, March 18, 2007). In his congratulatory speech, the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Ravil Gainutdin sheikh said: "You have kept the integrity of the nation and Russia." In turn, Kadyrov said that he would "fairly and justly serve the Chechen people and Russia"
  • Medal "For participation in the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya" (February 2006)
  • Medal "For Service in the Caucasus" (February 2006)
  • Medal "For Strengthening the penal system of the Russian Federation" (2007)
  • Medal "For contributions to the development of agro-industrial complex" (2011) [61]
  • Golden Star - "Honor and Dignity" with the rank of "Honored Defender of Human Rights" (2007)
  • Diamond Order of the National Fund of the Russian Federation "Public Recognition" (2007)
  • Badge of Honor "Peace and Creation" (2007).


Other:
  • Memorial sign "for the achievements of culture" (September 10, 2007). The memorial sign on behalf of the Minister of Culture of Russia Alexander Sokolov gave head the Department of Culture and Mass Communications Minister Yury Shubin in the last day of the ten regional arts festival, "Peace to the Caucasus" in Grozny [62]
  • Laureate of the "Russian of the Year" in nomination "For the sake of life on Earth" in 2007 (28 February 2008)
  • Awarded the titles of "Honorary Citizen of the Chechen Republic", "Honored Worker of Physical Culture," "Man of the Year 2004" in the Chechen Republic, "Honored Builder of the Chechen Republic", Honorary President of the Movement of Afghan Veterans of the Southern Federal District, the President of the Chechen League KVN
  • "Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences" (2006)
  • Winner of the award "Aksakal" as "Caucasian policies 2008"
  • Medal for contributions to the development of agriculture

See also

  • Timur Aliev
    Timur Aliev
    Tamerlane Magomedovich Aliev, better known as Timur Aliev , is a prominent Chechen journalist and the former editor-in-chief of the Grozny-based publication The Chechen Society....

  • Natalya Estemirova
    Natalya Estemirova
    Natalya Khusainovna Estemirova was an award-winning Russian human rights activist and board member of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. Estemirova was abducted by unknown persons on 15 July 2009 around 8:30 a.m. from her home in Grozny, Chechnya, as she was working on "extremely...

  • Federal government in Chechnya
  • Akhmad Kadyrov
    Akhmad Kadyrov
    Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...

  • Kadyrovtsy
    Kadyrovtsy
    Kadyrovtsy also Kadyrovites, is a term used by the population of Chechnya, as well as members of the groups themselves, for former members of the paramilitary units of the former pro-Moscow President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov, headed by his son and the current President Ramzan...

  • Second Chechen War
    Second Chechen War
    The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....


External links

Official website
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