Russian president's initiative on amnesty in Chechnya is politically significant

The Russian president's and the Kremlin's initiative to announce general amnesty in Chechnya is very timely and politically significant, Russian Presidential Aide Sergey Yastrzhembsky believes. Mr. Yastrzhembsky made this statement on Wednesday at a press conference in the international press centre.

According to him, "it is especially significant that the initiative was forwarded to the Russian State Duma after the two terrorist acts in Chechnya that killed many Chechens and federal officers".

It is quite obvious that the engineers of the explosions tried to get an inadequate response and expected some tough retaliatory actions, primarily against Chechen civilians, Mr. Yastrzhembsky stated.

"In this case both federal forces and the Chechen administration had to show self-restrain and responsibility, while the federal centre, despite the complicated situation, had to give a powerful impulse to develop the trend which had emerged in Chechnya after the referendum," the Russian Presidential Aide stated.

He believes "it is obvious that Chechnya has been and is waiting for general amnesty".

General amnesty is an additional opportunity to intensify positive social and political changes in the Chechen republic and "a door for those willing to return to a normal peaceful life and stop useless resistance and war", Mr. Yastrzhembsky stressed.

In this situation, it is especially important that the executive power fulfils its promise and despite the terrorists' expectations began to draft an amnesty document.

The draft regulation was introduced in the Russian parliament's lower chamber by the Russian President on May 15th.

On Wednesday the State Duma passed the regulation on amnesty in Chechnya in the first reading.