Depardieu parties with controversial ‘friend’

French star and newly registered Russian citizen Gerard Depardieu was visiting his “friend”, the controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, partying into the night, and vowing to make a film about the Muslim region.

Many have concerns about Kadyrov’s record on human rights and have accused security services in Chechnya of carrying out kidnappings, torture, and extrajudicial killings in a bid to quash insurgency. Kadyrov denies the allegations and calls them an attempt to blacken his name.

The French actor, given Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin amid a tax row with Paris, arrived in Chechnya’s main city Grozny on a private jet after touring dairy factories in Saransk, the city in central Russia where he took residence at the weekend.

The actor toured sights in Grozny after dancing the night away with Chechnya’s leadership. He visited several museums and the city’s giant mosque, where he “was shaken by its grandeur and beauty”, the Chechen government website said.

Russia’s state-controlled channels followed spellbound as Depardieu was hosted by a tracksuited Kadyrov in his vast residence, where entertainment included a children’s folk dancing troupe in national costumes and a female singer in a hijab who performed a hit French song Je t’aime.

Footage showed Depardieu eventually breaking into a dance at the party, attempting to do the Chechen lezginka (national dance) alongside a young woman in a coloured scarf, as his host and other officials clapped with contented smiles.

“This is a visit to see my friend,” Depardieu said.

Kadyrov, 36, who has ruled Chechnya with an iron grip since 2007 and oversaw vast redevelopment and Islamisation in the war-torn region, is loathed by rights campaigners who accuse him of ordering kidnappings and extrajudicial killings.

Kadyrov, who recently emerged as a prolific photo blogger, also documented the party on his Instagram page.

Yesterday, he blogged that he presented Depardieu with a five-room apartment in Chechnya and named him an honorary citizen of the republic. The actor was presented with a special lapel pin and honorary citizen ID card.

One image shows Kadyrov and Depardieu shaking hands over a table full of food, with the caption announcing the start of a new film project called Heart of a Father, to be filmed in Grozny.

“I want to make a movie here, to show that a big film can be made in Grozny,” Depardieu said.

“I want to explain how one man could build a city anew in five years.”