Germany: Chechen Sharia Police Terrorize Berlin

Chechens have said in interviews that expectations for behavior are more rigid and strict in among Chechen emigrants in Germany than in Chechnya itself — “a competition in righteousness.” Threats of violence against “errant” women are viewed as “acts of patriotism.” Pictured above: A volunteer tutor (left) instructs an asylum-applicant from Chechnya in a German-language class, on November 10, 2015, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

 

• Threats of violence against “errant” women are viewed as “acts of patriotism.
• “They have come to Germany because they wanted to live in Germany, but they keep trying to turn it into Chechnya with its medieval ways.” — Social worker interviewed by Meduza.
• “Everyone’s attention is fixed on the Syrians, but the Chechens are the most dangerous group. We are not paying sufficient attention to this.” — Police in Frankfurt (Oder).

A hundred Islamists are now openly enforcing Sharia law on the streets of Berlin, according to local police who are investigating a recent string of violent assaults in the German capital.

The self-appointed morality police involve Salafists from Chechnya, a predominantly Sunni Muslim region in Russia. The vigilantes are using threats of violence to discourage Chechen migrants from integrating into German society; they are also promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in Germany. German authorities appear unable to stop them.

Russian banks suffer wave of DDoS attacks

Kaspersky Lab has confirmed that numerous Russian banks have been suffering a wave of DDoS attacks.

According to Russian media, five banks in the country have been subject to a swathe of DDoS attacks over the past few days. The state-owned Sberbank was one of them, and Kaspersky Lab said in a statement that the attacks were among the largest it had seen aimed at Russian banks.

There are numerous theories flying around about why these attacks are happening, and it’s important to mention they are unsubstantiated rumours at best, but Vice has a theory that it may have been happening due to  “people who were dissatisfied with possible Russian intervention in the presidential elections in the United States.”

A Tale of Two Militaries

Caption: Russian soldiers prepare to take part in the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in Moscow on May 9. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

 

It is the best of militaries, it is the most mismanaged of militaries. It is a force of wisdom, it is a force of confusion. It is a military of nobility, it is a military of hypocrisy. The world sits before it urging it on, the nations burn resentfully in its wake.

The first half of each of those sentences reflects the way the people of Russia increasingly see their county’s military—noble, fierce and worthy of high praise. The second half of each reflects the view many Americans have toward the United States military.

This dichotomy between the two reveals a great deal about each nation.