Chechnya Authorities Slam Russian Oligarch Over Anti-Islamic Provocations

GROZNIY, January 8 (Sputnik) – The head of Chechnya Ramazan Kadyrov has criticized Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos oil company, for urging journalists to publish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in the wake of the terrorist attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

On Wednesday, Khodorkovsky stated on his Twitter account that all journalists ought to publish caricatures of the prophet, if they were a dignified community.

"While the French authorities have been busy investigating and implementing measures, which would prevent a further escalation of tensions, Khodorkovsky demands that journalists repeat the experience of the Parisian publication and publish caricatures. Such calls have been condemned by the majority of those who have read them… He has declared himself an enemy of Muslims all over the world," Kadyrov stated on his Instagram page.

The Chechen parliamentary speaker Dukuvaha Abdurakhmanov also slammed Khodorkovsky, stating that his actions were motivated by a desire to garner publicity for himself.

On Wednesday morning, alleged Islamic extremists attacked the Paris office of satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including several cartoonists and two police officers.

The magazine previously received threats from Islamists for publishing caricatures of Prophet Mohammad. Charlie Hebdo also posted a caricature of the leader of the Islamic State insurgent group on its Twitter account shortly before the onslaught.