Chechnya
Chechnya’s courts: a tool for the authorities and a thorn in their side
It is no secret that the courts in Russia fail to maintain their independence from the government. This is perhaps most acute of all if Chechnya, where the republic’s leadership have waged a war on the judiciary, and trumped-up cases are brought against anyone who says or does ‘the wrong thing’ in public. Courts in Grozny heard two widely publicised cases in early May. One, the trial of Chechen writer Rizvan Ibragimov, who was accused of inciting ethnic hatred through his books. The othe
