.... Women face coercion to wear headscarves as part of a "virtues" campaign, including an Islamic dress code. Men are allowed polygamous marriage and alcohol is forbidden, though it remains tucked away inside shops.
However, Ramzan Kadyrov, the ruling governor of Chechnya who's just been reappointed for another five years, says for Chechnya's 1.2-million population, it's all voluntary.
To outsiders, the scene is a mixture of the medieval and pseudo-religious machismo. Kadyrov seems, however, unperturbed by the foreign criticism. "Don't fantasize. Don't portray us as unsociable beasts. We're only serving our people," he says. [Deutsche Welle] Read more
