A resident of Grozny publicly reprimanded for witchcraft

Law enforcement detained an elderly resident of Grozny, after which the head of the Islamic Medicine Center, Adam Elzhurkaev, reprimanded him for engaging in occultism, according to a report by ChGTRK "Grozny".

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", there has been a campaign in Chechnya for many years to persecute people who declare themselves healers, psychics, magicians, and witches. It was initially announced by the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, in 2013, then the campaign subsided, but in 2019, the persecution of residents for occultism intensified again. Reports of conversations with detainees conducted by the head of the Islamic Medicine Center, Adam Elzhurkaev, are periodically published by the state television company "Grozny".

The Instagram*-public chp_grozniy_ published a video report from the state channel "Grozny" last night, showing how the head of the Islamic Medicine Center, Adam Elzhurkaev, publicly reprimands an elderly resident of Grozny. The video description states that she is accused of engaging in occultism.

"Caught another witch," the video description says.

In the video, the Grozny woman stated that she is a teacher. "That's not true. I am a teacher. I know English, Chechen, and Russian languages," she said.

Next, the video shows a phone playing a video recording. It shows the woman laying out cards. Then Adam Elzhurkaev and the elderly Grozny woman are shown in an office, with the flags of Russia and Chechnya visible in the background. Several men in civilian clothes are also present in the room. The video then shows a deck of cards and photographs of people.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that lawyer Abusupyan Gaitayev previously noted that in Russia, criminal prosecution of psychics and magicians for fraud is practiced, but proving fraudulent intent in such cases can be difficult, which is why law enforcement agencies "do not particularly like" such cases.

"The one accused of fraud can say that he, for example, promised to conduct some ritual, some procedure, for which he charged a fee. The client voluntarily agreed, but the result was not guaranteed by the agreements," he explained to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

The hunt for witches is also conducted in other republics of the North Caucasus, noted journalist Vladimir Sevrinovsky, who published a study on Islamic medicine clinics in December 2020. According to him, in Dagestan and Chechnya, Islamic exorcists work with the support and funding of local authorities, and residents often prefer to turn to healers, ignoring official medicine.

More details about cases of coercion to apologize, which is practiced at the behest of Ramzan Kadyrov even outside Chechnya, can be read in the report of "Caucasian Knot" "The fashion for apologies: from Chechnya to the farthest corners" and in "Chronicle of public apologies in the Caucasus". Materials on the practice of public repentance have been collected by "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "Whom the Caucasus forces to apologize".