Ramzan Kadyrov listens to his mother

Posted By Joshua Keating Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 2:36 PM Share

The wrong side of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov is generally not the safest place to be, but apparently helps if his mom takes your side:

Kadyrov had filed libel suits against Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Oleg Orlov, head of rights watchdog Memorial, and Novaya Gazeta — all having accused the Chechen leader of ordering kidnappings and killings in the North Caucasus republic.

Numerous human rights activists and Public Chamber members had called on Kadyrov to drop the proceedings, and the Chechen president "stresses that the opinion of the people who have addressed him in letters is very important to him," his spokesman, Alvi Karimov, said in a statement posted on the Chechen government's web site Tuesday.

But Kadyrov was apparently also nudged within his own family: His mother, Aimani, asked him to withdraw the lawsuits, saying it was against Chechen traditions to enter into disputes with the elderly, Karimov said.

Not that the 82-year-old Alexeyeva has much interest in staying out of trouble.

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