Is Journalism Worth Dying For__ Final Dispatches - Anna Politkovskaya [82]
“I fought from 2000 to 2002, not from the very beginning of the war. I went to fight because my brother was unjustly imprisoned and my younger brother was seriously injured by a bomb. People were always coming into our house from a variety of agencies and terrorising us. I was no longer prepared to put up with it. It was impossible to stay at home and just wait to be humiliated. I fought in a detachment of 12 men who were loyal to Maskhadov.”
“Why did you give up on Maskhadov?”
“It was hard fighting in the long term, the conditions were hard. Some lads I knew talked to me, and we agreed to go together to take advantage of Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov’s amnesty. I became a Kadyrovite. I was told, ‘You have nothing to worry about. There is nothing against you.’ ”
“What kind of work did you have with Kadyrov?”
“More fighting.”
“Was it more difficult fighting for Kadyrov or for Maskhadov?”
“It was the same. Later they started disbanding the Anti-Terrorist Center to create the North and South Battalions. I realized I was tired of it all. I didn’t want to run around with a rifle any more. I turned over my weapon and vehicle, but soon I discovered that the previous amnesty had not had legal force and prosecutions had begun under Article 205, Part 3 (Acts of Terrorism).”
“Did you have a different attitude towards Akhmat-hadji and Ramzan?”
“Yes. Akhmat-hadji had a better head on his shoulders. He knew what needed doing.”
“Are you afraid of Ramzan?”
“No, I am not afraid of him, but I don’t like him.”
“There was a lot of talk after the death of Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov that if you, all the Kadyrovites and former fighters, were not handed over to Ramzan, who ought to replace his father, you would all go off again to the forests.”
“That was not true. Nobody was planning to return to the forests. People weren’t even thinking about it as a final resort.”
“How many are there like you, from the disbanded Kadyrovites, who would like to seek an amnesty?”
“I know some 20 people. They want to, but there are no guarantees. Everybody who left Ramzan has discovered that the federal warrant against us has not been lifted.”
“Are you prepared to go back into a different detachment under the amnesty?”
“No. What difference is there whether you go into another detachment or to prison?”
“What hopes do you and those 20 former Kadyrovites have, what are you hoping for?”
“The rule of law. We are waiting for the law to be re-established. But those coming directly from the mountains have no chance at all now, and they know it.”
“What significance did the death of Basayev have for you?”
“None.”
“Who do you feel yourself to be?”
“I am a resistance fighter.”
“What distinguishes a resistance fighter from everybody else? The wish to fight?”
“The inner desire for retribution is what you must have. Just wanting to fight is not enough.”
“Who do you believe now? Who do you trust?”
“Nobody. Alkhanov a little, because he has not promised anything. I don’t believe in people who promise a lot.”
“Patrushev? Putin?”
“I don’t know them. I would need to talk to them face to face before I could trust them.”
“Nevertheless, you are intending to go to the Prosecutor’s Office. What percentage risk do you think you face that they will put you in prison?”
“Eighty per cent.”
“But you are going nevertheless?”
“I’m fed up with fighting.”
RAMZAN KADYROV, THE PRIDE OF CHECHNYA: THE NEW PRIME MINISTER’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
June 5, 2006
In a few days Russia, and indeed the whole world, will be celebrating the First Hundred Days of the premiership of Ramzan Kadyrov, or so, at least, the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic believes. He is making suitable preparations.
Hands up anyone who still doesn’t know that Ramzan Kadyrov is Ramzan the Builder? He is restoring battered Chechnya to its pre-war appearance, doing away with every trace of the battles which, with brief interruptions, have been taking place here since 1994.
Actually, everybody knows. They know that, without rest, for almost