CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Passport checks among civilians begin in Grozny

By Ruslan Isayev

GROZNY, Chechnya - Passport checks are being conducted among civilians in Grozny. Groups of officers from district police stations are checking all tenants present in apartments and private houses at the time of the check, and recording their passport details. The policemen are accompanied by passport service officials.

The police are taking suspicious individuals to the local police stations. Particular attention is being given to citizens who do not have city residence permits.

On Thursday, a similar check was carried out in Grozny’s residential compounds (mikrorayony). At 5am police officers, divided into several groups and armed with pens and notebooks, began to make the rounds of the high-rise apartment blocks along Tukhachevsky, Kosior, Dyakov and Ionesiane streets, which caused a great commotion among residents there.

The policemen hastened to reassure the residents that it was a routine check. One of the passport inspectors said that the order to compile a list of the city’s residents was given personally by the Chechen interior minister, and that it was being carried out in order to increase security for the upcoming elections to the Russian State Duma.

"After all, you’ll have more peace of mind if we arrest or kill the bandit living in the apartment next door to you," the policemen say in an attempt to explain their actions.

The checks are not being carried out on people in the city's streets, but in places where large numbers of people congregate (markets, train stations, educational establishments, etc.) there are round-the-clock patrols by officers drawn from the Akhmat Kadyrov special police regiment.

(Translation by DM)

(D/T)