Kadyrov wants to ‘screw world from behind’
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has again denied the existence of gay men in the largely Muslim republic.
“If there are any, take them to Canada,” the macho leader told television network HBO.
When asked about the roundup, abduction and torture of gay men in Chechnya earlier this year, the 40-year-old leader said: “This is nonsense. We don’t have those kinds of people here. We don’t have any gays.”
After two separatist wars since the 1990s, the republic became increasingly socially conservative under the late president Akhmat Kadyrov and then his son Ramzan, who was appointed by close ally Russia President Vladimir Putin in 2007.
Canada was apparently the natural home for anyone who deviated from Kadyrov’s norms. Canada has criticised Kadyrov over allegations of torture of gay men.
“Take them far from us so we don’t have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them.”
The homophobic strongman then promised to “put the world on its knees and screw it from behind”.
Kadyrov has promoted Chechnya’s Islamic culture, including opening what is claimed to be Europe’s largest mosque in Grozny, the Chechen capital. A keen boxer, Kadyrov has promoted mixed martial arts and other fighting contests in Chechnya. HBO said its show focused on Kadyrov’s sporting initiatives.
When quizzed about the allegations of prolonged torture that came out of the republic from numerous sources, Kadyrov became angry. “They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people. God damn them for what they are accusing us of. They will have to answer to the Almighty for this,” he told HBO during his first western interview.
He is also dismissed the US as a competitor for Russia.
“America is not really a strong enough state for us to regard it as an enemy of Russia. We have a strong government and are a nuclear state. Even if our government were completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed,” the charming leader told HBO.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta was the first to break the story of the Chechen anti-gay roundups.
The newspaper is partly owned by ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev, whose family control the Evening Standard in London.
One man who escaped Chechnya told the Guardian that he was stripped by three men, filmed and beaten.
“They shouted insults at me, they broke my jaw and left me covered in blood,” the man said. “They told me I had to pay them a huge bribe or they’d publish the video online and tell my family I was gay.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Picture credit: Kremlin
