More money demanded for passing through checkpointsRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus – Despite that the Moscow-backed Chechen administration recommended easing checks on Chechen roads in connection with the festivities marking the end of Ramadan, bribery has increased during the celebration of this month.
“A driver of a passenger car at the Kavkaz-1 checkpoint paid 30 rubles for passage to the OMON police but now the fee has almost doubled,” said a taxi driver named Alamat.
There are practically no lines at the checkpoints these days, he says. Soldiers have stopped inspecting cars and in return for their “favour”, they want an equivalent in rubles. For instance, it costs 20 rubles per head to cross a checkpoint without being examined. And it used to be ten.
The procedure of the delivery and receipt of the bribe goes as follows: “You insert the appropriate note between the pages of documents presented for control and by one swift movement of the hand, the money finds its way right into the pocket of the officer.”
People have already become accustomed to the bribery of servicemen on the roads. “What is important is that they leave you alone. You will always find money as long as you keep your health,” thinks the taxi driver.
Miscellaneous cases happen. “Once, while I was handing my passport for the check, two ten-ruble notes fell out of my passport, which neither the officer, nor I noticed,” says Alamat. “He carefully scrutinized the pages of my passport for a long time and, not seeing the desired amount, he asked why my passport did not contain the confirmation about my Russian citizenship. As soon as I spotted my money on the ground, I bent down for it and handed it to him, saying: 'My citizenship, there you go'.”
Russian special police members deployed to Chechnya from different regions of Russia do not hide that they came to get some money. They use the obtained sums to buy gold jewelry from local jewelers. Every Russian policeman standing at the checkpoint is embellished with all kinds of diamond rings and massive gold chains.
There were also quite a few cases where Russian officers drove away wounded Chechen fighters in armoured vehicles in exchange for huge amounts of money. This favour, however, costs in the orders of thousands of dollars. If somebody is captured, whether a resistance fighter or not, it is essential to contact the right people within a few hours after the detention. If his family has enough money and is ready to pay, the person – beaten but alive – comes back home. If not, he is beaten to death.
(P/T) |
