Russia’s human rights body has concluded that the son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov did not commit a crime when he was filmed assaulting a teenager who was detained for burning a Quran, online media reported Wednesday.
Adam Kadyrov, 16, was filmed in September kicking and punching Nikita Zhuravel, 19, who was arrested last year in the southern Volgograd region on charges of burning a Quran and later transferred to the majority Muslim republic of Chechnya.
Ramzan Kadyrov praised his son for “doing the right thing” and several Russian regional leaders have since presented awards to the younger Kadyrov after the incident.
Russian state human rights officials have issued mildly worded statements about Zhuravel’s detention, calling for his rights to be respected, but avoiding directly criticizing Kadyrov.
Vladislav Grigorov, who heads the Human Rights Commission’s department for the protection of individuals undergoing criminal proceedings, confirmed this week that Adam Kadyrov will not be prosecuted for beating Zhuravel.
In a letter published by the Telegram news channel Brief, Grigorov cites the Chechen police force’s refusal to open a criminal case into the beating.
“The police inspection [had found] no crime had occurred,” he wrote, adding that the “supervising prosecutor recognized this procedural decision as lawful and justified.”
Russian media, citing internal documents, reported earlier that police in the Chechen capital of Grozny refused to press charges against Adam Kadyrov since he was younger than the minimum age for criminal liability at the time.
The younger Kadyrov turned 16 in November.