Ramzan Kadyrov

123
Ramzan Kadyrov bigraphy, stories - Warlords

Ramzan Kadyrov : biography

5 October 1976 –

Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ( ; born 5 October 1976) is the Head of the Chechen Republic and a former Chechen rebel.

Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007, Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He has the support of current Russian President Vladimir Putin and was awarded the Hero of Russia medal, the highest honorary title of Russia. Kadyrov was engaged in violent power struggles; with Chechen government warlords Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiev for overall military authority, and with Alu Alkhanov for political authority.

As Head of Chechnya, Kadyrov has been credited for bringing peace and stability to the region. On the other hand, he has come under heavy criticism from the international press and Russia, due to alleged corruption and human rights violations.

Ramzan Kadyrov is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (Российская Академия Естественных Наук, not to be confused with the Russian Academy of Sciences).

Early life

Kadyrov was born in Tsentoroi, RSFSR, USSR. A reckless and impetuous person at school, Ramzan Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father Akhmad Kadyrov, a Muslim imam. He claims that he always emulated his father. Ramzan enjoys boxing and once met with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.bbc.co.uk/czech In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union splintered into fragments, the Chechens launched a bid for independence. The Kadyrovs joined the struggle against the federal forces, with Ramzan driving a car for his father Akhmad, who became the separatist mufti of Chechnya.

Militia leader

The Kadyrov clan defected to the Moscow side at the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. Since then, Ramzan has led his militia with support from Russia’s FSB state security service (including service ID cards) becoming the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service. The militia later became known as the Kadyrovites.

He was falsely rumoured to have died of a gunshot wound inflicted by his bodyguard on 28 April 2004.

Other issues

Sex scandal

On 12 March 2006, a Chechen separatist website posted a short video shot on a mobile phone of a party in a sauna involving two alleged prostitutes and several men, including one who looks and sounds exactly like Ramzan Kadyrov, seen dancing with a young, half-naked woman and trying to rip her bra off. Another man then starts masturbating in front of them. Andrew Osborn, Moscow reporter for the Independent, reports that "Mr Kadyrov’s aides have laughed off the grainy video … as a ‘provocation’.". NEWSru 15 March 2006 However, one of people close to Kadyrov confirmed that such orgies are conducted on a regular basis

Call to quarantine proceeds of horse race

On 3 November 2009, a horse owned by Ramzan Kadyrov, Mourilyan, ran third in the Melbourne Cup winning about US$380,000 in prize money. The leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown, immediately called for the Government of Australia to quarantine the prize money until assurances are received as to how the money will be used. Concerns had been previously raised that the Melbourne Cup could be used to launder money by overseas individuals.

Honor killings

In 2009, Kadyrov stated his approval of honor killings, based on the belief that women are the property of their husbands.

Wikileaks

On 28 November 2010, a classified Wikileaks cable named Kadyrov as a "starring guest" at some of Dagestan’s most elaborate weddings, which indicates the political "Caucasus power structure" in these weddings. 2006/08 Wikileaks In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia’s Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime "water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea", and a report that Ramzan Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a "five-kilo lump of gold".