Exclusive interview by Akhmed Zakaev to the independent Georgian channel 1 Caucasian
October 8th, 2010
Zviad: How do you see the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria? Should it be an Islamic or a Secular Democratic State?
Akhmed: First of all, I am categorically opposed to setting Islam against democratic principles and values. Islam itself contains basic democratic principles. Today, some deliberately attempt to set Islam and democracy against each other. Meanwhile, the forms of government are to be determined by the internal legislation of the country.
The Chechen state has already determined its priorities in its main law, and changing those laws is the exclusive prerogative of the Chechen people.
Zviad: When Doku Umarov declared the creation of Imarat Kavkaz, you have said that it would be detrimental to Chechnya. Do you still hold this opinion?
Akhmed: Indeed, this project is created against the Chechen people, Chechnya’s independence, and against the peoples living in the North Caucasus who started to think ...
Can Chechen President Kadyrov stamp out bride-stealing?
Published: 9th Oct 2010
The authorities in Russia's southern republic of Chechnya say they are taking unprecedented steps to stop women from being kidnapped and forced into marriage.
Lucy Ash, who recently made a film for the BBC about the centuries-old practice of bride-stealing, asks how effective these new measures will be.
Surfing the web two years ago, I stumbled across some shocking footage. The pictures, shot on mobile phones, showed young Chechen women being snatched off the street by burly men in leather jackets and pushed into cars.
At first these films, set to romantic pop music, looked almost comic. But then I heard the natural soundtrack - screaming and gunfire.
Those grainy images were my introduction to the extraordinary practice of bride-stealing.
I decided to travel to Chechnya to try and understand why so many weddings there begin with abduction. I also wanted to investigate the role local ...
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