Kadyrov family member accused of torturing women apologizes, blames surgery following car accident

Islam Kadyrov, the former mayor of Grozny and the second cousin once removed of Chechen government leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has confessed to torturing fraud suspects using a taser. Islam Kadyrov apologized for his actions in a live Instagram video interview with Chingiz Akhmadov, a journalist for the same outlet that first revealed Kadyrov’s involvement in the torture.

According to the wire service TASS, Kadyrov said, “I have no excuse. I’m 100 percent guilty. I’m prepared to testify to compensate for my mistakes, but I didn’t do it out of ill will or self-interest — I did it to help people who were victimized by con artists.” The former Grozny mayor added that he believed his behavior was related to the 29 anesthesia procedures he said he underwent following a severe car accident. “I’m ashamed of myself today,” he concluded.