ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Several hundred demonstrators in Russia's second-largest city have held a protest against a proposal to name a new bridge after the late Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov.
Kadyrov, father of Chechnya's current Kremlin-backed strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov, died in a bomb attack in 2004. Human rights groups have alleged that torture, abductions and extrajudicial executions were widespread during their times in office.
The committee that suggests names for St. Petersburg's public places last month proposed the bridge be named for the elder Kadyrov. An online petition against the proposal has gathered some 70,000 signatures.
Protesters on Monday complained that Kadyrov had no connection to the city.
Ilya Yashin, a prominent opposition leader, said the proposal is "a shame not only for the St. Petersburg authorities but also for the whole country."
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