Chechen resident issues public apology after criticising ambulance service

Chechen state television and radio company Grozny TV has published a video in which Shamkhan Talarov, a resident of the Urus-Martan district, apologised for sharing a video clip showing an ambulance being unable to enter a local hospital due to a closed gate.

According to Islam Akhmatkhanov, the institution’s chief doctor, Talarov filmed the emergency service entrance, which is closed at night by regulation, while the main entrances are open 24 hours a day.

In his public apology, Talarov admitted that he had made a mistake and apologised to the hospital staff for the false accusations. The video itself was called a fake in the state media’s report.

‘I took a video of an ambulance not being let in. It turned out it was a back entrance. They have the main entrance on the other side. I took this video in a hurry. I was shown where the ambulance enters and leaves from. Please, everyone, don’t do something like that. Something done in haste is not a good thing’, Taralov said.

The practice of public apologies in Chechnya has become widespread in recent years, and are often the result of pressure and threats.

A 2015 report by the International Crisis Group, noted that such apologies are the result of coercion. In addition, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom drew attention in a 2021 report to ’humiliating video confessions’ by Chechen residents, recommending sanctions against the republic’s Minister of Press and Information, Akhmed Dudaev.

Experts have additionally noted that this practice is used by the authorities as an instrument of pressure on society, whereby residents of the region realise that any critical statement can lead to public humiliation, which contributes to self-censorship and suppression of freedom of speech.

Since about 2017, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has been demanding a personal apology — which he broadcasts on social media — for any perceived insult to Chechnya. Soon after, this trend of public humiliation spread to neighbouring republics and then to the whole of Russia.

Public humiliation — the political trend sweeping through the North Caucasus

For years, Chechnya’s Head Ramzan Kadyrov has demanded personal apologies — which he broadcasts on social media — for any perceived insult. This trend of public humiliation is now beginning to spread to neighbouring republics, first in Ingushetia, and now Daghestan. On 12 July, a video appea…

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