Kadyrov Prepared to Supervise Amnesty in Chechnya

Chechnya's head of administration Akhmad Kadyrov is ready to take personal charge of all matters relating to the upcoming amnesty in the republic, RIA Novosti was told by his staff on Wednesday.

Kadyrov said he completely ruled out any amnesty for bandits on a federal wanted list. "The amnesty will extend to everybody but odious bandits of the Maskhadov or Zakayev type," he emphasised.

In his view, if a person is not wanted by federal authorities, it means he has not committed grave crimes and may be amnestied. Kadyrov said that "no one knows" the exact number of people who will be amnestied. According to his figures, on the eve of a referendum on a constitution for Chechnya, held on March 23, 46 militants laid down their arms and gave themselves up to representatives of the republic's law enforcement bodies. "They repented and I think they can be amnestied," Kadyrov said.

He recalled that the State Duma of Russia is currently working on a draft resolution on an amnesty in Chechnya in view of the adoption of the republic's constitution.

Meanwhile, as State Duma First Vice-Speaker Lyubov Sliska told RIA Novosti, "the lower house of parliament can examine a draft resolution on an amnesty in the Chechen Republic as early as this next May." According to her, "the document continues to be prepared, with State Duma deputies and in particular Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the Duma committee on legislation, in constant consultations with the Russian president's administration."