#17
BBC Monitoring
Chechen rebels ridicule Russian president's amnesty motion
Source: Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency web site in Russian 15 May 03

15 May: [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has once again taken on the role of a political medium who is still trying to convince the world community of the false thesis that the Chechen state is a part of Russia. This time Putin, the medium, employed the method of "legal manipulation and falsification". He submitted to his State Duma for consideration a draft resolution on the declaration of the so-called "amnesty in connection with the adoption of the Constitution of the Chechen Republic".

[Passage omitted: quote from Russian sources]

Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency has asked a member of the State Defence Committee - Majlis ul-Shura of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and member of the collegium of the Supreme Shari'ah Court of Chechnya, Amir Sakhad, to comment on Putin's statement.

"The so-called amnesty which Putin speaks about has no legal application to Chechen citizens and the Chechen state. This is an absolutely illegitimate action by the Kremlin, both from the point of view of shari'ah and the notorious `international law', and its nature is purely one of propaganda and speculation aimed at imprinting on people's consciousness Moscow's lie that Chechnya is allegedly a part of Russia.

"Therefore, the so-called amnesty will not have any legal or other consequence for the Chechen side because of the absence of the legal object of the amnesty.

"For its part, the Chechen side will sooner or later arrest Putin and the criminals surrounding him and strictly punish them for war and other crimes against the Chechen people and humanity. I can say that no amnesty is envisaged under shari'ah law for Putin and his criminal associates," Amir Sakhad said.