Authorities in Russia’s southern republic of Chechnya publicly displayed the body of a teenager accused of stabbing two traffic police officers earlier this week, local media and Chechen opposition groups said Thursday.
The alleged assailant was fatally shot after attacking officers in the town of Achkhoy-Martan on Monday evening. Investigators said one officer died of his injuries, with Chechen state media later reporting the officer was buried on Wednesday.
That same morning, Chechen authorities organized a rally in the town square where the suspected knife attacker’s body was brought out for public viewing, according to the opposition Telegram channel NIYSO.
Videos posted online showed the body of a young man lying on the pavement as a crowd looked on in silence.
Eyewitnesses told the news outlet Caucasus Knot that teachers, students and other state employees were ordered to attend the rally and barred from leaving by security forces.
“None of those present could imagine [seeing the body] in their nightmares,” an unidentified school principal told the outlet.
Teachers reported scenes of children in tears and women fainting at the gathering. “The body was apparently brought to intimidate us,” said a chemistry teacher identified only as Amina.
Another video posted by NIYSO showed the body remained in the square hours after the rally ended.
Chechen state media claimed the alleged attacker was 17 years old, while NIYSO said he was 16. The opposition channel also alleged that members of his family had been kidnapped following the incident.
The Kremlin dismissed the reports later on Thursday, telling journalists that opposition Telegram channels “should not be trusted.”
Meanwhile, a Russian government human rights official criticized the public display of the body.
“The teenager committed an unacceptable crime, but adults now, doing this to the body of the murdered man, are committing something unacceptable,” said Irina Kirkora, Deputy Chair of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Tuesday reportedly ordered the expulsion of the attacker’s relatives and the seizure of their property.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s North Caucasus service, Chechen authorities routinely engage in collective punishment, targeting not only relatives of suspected criminals but also critics of local officials.
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