Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called on his supporters to stop demonstrating, a week after convening a mass rally against the persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims in Grozny.
“There is no need for rallies now,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account on Sunday. “If the initiators [of rallies] are concerned about the fate of the Rohingya, then this issue has already become the number one problem that is being discussed around the world.”
His statement came after around 130 people were detained on Sunday at an unauthorized rally in St. Petersburg in support of the Rohingya. Last week, at least 20 people were detained at two spontaneous demonstrations outside the Myanmar Embassy in Moscow.
Kadyrov convened thousands of Muslims in the Chechen capital of Grozny last Monday to support the Rohingya, saying in his Sunday post that “The voice of the protesters was heard in all corners of the world.”
Kadyrov previously said he would “oppose Russia’s position” if it “supports the devils who commit crimes” in Myanmar.
But in his Sunday post, he thanked President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of Turkey and Kazakhstan, for “demonstrating integrity and humanity in this matter.” Putin addressed the unrest in Myanmar last Monday, condemning the violence in the Southeast Asian nation, “including violence against Muslims.”
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