How to tame a journalist’s tongue

Chechen Parliament Speaker, Magomed Daudov’s Instagram post about the need for exerting violence against journalists is rapidly gaining popularity on the Internet.

Daudov shares what he personally wishes someone would to the Caucasian Knot editor-in-chief. Namely:

“It’s high time to call for a vet with large tongs. It’s about time! And what? Just pull out a couple of ‘Shved’s’ wisdom fangs and tame his tongue to a standard size. You’ll see, he will start yelping about something good or insightful. Who knows, maybe we’ll believe it one day.”

The fact that he uses the word ‘Shved’ (a Russian word for Swede) with a capital letter, that’s how a personal name rather than a national origin is written in Russian language, as well as a photo caption – ‘How to undo the Caucasian Knot’, indicates that Daudov referred to Grigoriy Shvedov, the editor-in-chief of the Caucasian Knot media outlet.

The aforesaid media outlet belongs to the type of the Russian mass media that report on violations of human rights in the Caucasus, including in Chechnya.

The Chechen Parliament Speaker is nicknamed Lord. Following this threatening and humiliating post, a photo was published on his Instagram page, featuring Lord praying side-by-side with Ramzan Kadirov and RF State Duma MP from Chechnya, Adam Delimkhanov.

Grigoriy Shvedov, the Caucasian Knot editor-in-chief, commented on the incident to a number of media outlets, including JAMnews. 

“Daudov’s threats to ‘pull out one’s teeth’ and ‘tame one’s tongue’ are the Chechen leadership’s typical response to the journalists’ professional activity.   

I think that those allegations are not related to the Caucasian Knot’s particular publication, but rather to a whole set of materials produced by our journalists about Chechnya. I don’t know, how carefully Daudov himself reads the Caucasian Knot. If he had been a more careful reader, he would have known that we are publishing critical materials on other regions as well. However, other countries’ authorities do not derogate themselves by issuing such threats.

Our lawyers are analyzing Daudov’s publication as to the presence of elements constituting an offence under Article 144 of the Criminal Code, related to hampering a journalist’s professional activity. We haven’t decided yet whether we should apply to the law-enforcement agencies, though it’s obvious that such an application is a priori doomed to be shelved. It’s unlikely that a comprehensive investigation into the case will be conducted. 

Published: 8.01.2017