Teenagers involved in minor traffic accident in Chechnya forced to apologise on camera

The video was published by the Chechen Traffic Police’s social media accounts along with a caption saying that the offenders were identified in the course of monitoring social networks.

Statements from one of the individuals involved in the accident and a witness are shown in the video, as well as a comment from one of the police officers who was at the scene who said that a ‘preventive conversation was held with the violators’.

In the video footage of the accident, a truck is seen driving erratically on a village street before careening into a gate at low speed.

In the accompanying apology video, the driver and the witness of the incident — both of whom appear to be teenagers — are seen expressing regret for their actions inside a police station.

The current status of the two individuals is unknown.

Conducting ‘preventive conversations’ is not against Russian law, but it is only possible to publish information about such discussions, including by video, with the offender’s consent. Under what conditions the video was recorded, as well as whether pressure was applied to those who apologised,  is unknown.

Earlier, human rights activists noted that the practice of video apologies, which was started in Chechnya in 2015 by the authorities and then continued by the security forces, has spread to other regions of the North Caucasus and Russia as a whole.

Cherkhigov, 35, is the son of Ramzan Kadyrov’s elder sister Zargan Cherkhigova (neé Kadyrova). Cherkhigov became head of the republic’s traffic police in 2017, and got his first position — deputy head of the Chechen head of administration — at the age of 22.

Opposition blogger Islam Belokiev claimed that in 2020, Cherkhigov personally tortured pregnant Chechen resident Binazira Khamidova, who was suspected of helping members of the Chechen underground. Belokiev claimed that as a result of the torture, Khamidova lost her baby and was later killed. The story was also reported on by the Chechen opposition Telegram channel 1ADAT, and later confirmed by the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta. These publications did not mention who exactly was involved in the torture of the abducted woman.

Since the start of the war against Ukraine, Russia has recorded at least 94 cases of anti-war activists being forced to apologise on camera. Most of them were in annexed Crimea, but there were also such cases in Krasnodar Krai and Daghestan, according to a study by the independent human rights publication OVD-Info. Previously, this practice was widespread only in Chechnya.

Apart from criticism of Kadyrov, the reasons for apologies by Chechen residents varied widely. For example, residents have been forced to appear on camera after complaining about being beaten by security forces, evicted from their dormitory, providing insufficient assistance to a wheelchair user, and driving on the road, among other things.

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