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Russia's ex-PM asks FSB to launch criminal proceedings against Chechen leader

Kadyrov on Monday published a video featuring Kasyanov and Kara-Murza Jr. shown through a sniper’s gun sight

Leader of Russia’s Parnas party Mikhail Kasyanov (center) Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

Leader of Russia’s Parnas party Mikhail Kasyanov (center)

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Russia's former prime minister and the current leader of Russia’s Parnas party, Mikhail Kasyanov, as well as the party’s deputy leader, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., have asked the federal security service (FSB, former KGB) to launch criminal proceedings against the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, for a controversial video posted in the social network Instagram, Kasyanov’s lawyer Vadim Prokhorov has said.

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"The request for opening a criminal case was filed at the FSB earlier on Wednesday. We demand Kadyrov should be prosecuted under three articles of the Criminal Code: 277 (encroachment upon the life of a statesman or public figure) and 280 and 282 (anti-extremist articles)," the lawyer said, adding that later in the day he would deliver a statement signed by Kasyanov and Kara-Murza Jr. to the Investigative Committee.

Kadyrov on Monday published a video featuring Kasyanov and Kara-Murza Jr. on his page in Instagram. The two politicians were shown through a sniper’s gun sight. The caption read: "Kasyanov arrives in Strasbourg to raise money for the Russian opposition. The one who has not understood it yet will understand." The video itself has now been removed by the social network for violating the rules of the resource.

On February 2 Kadyrov advised those angry over the video to take the case to court.

"If these cardboard heroes feel so scared when they heard me laugh at them, the road to courts is open for them. I am a law-abiding citizen. I am responsible for every word of mine and I remain firmly committed to my opinion," Kadyrov said in Instagram.

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