Swank regrets attending Chechen concert

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Swank regrets attending Chechen concert

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She claimed in her apology that her invitation to the concert made no mention of Kadyrovs birthday.

13 October,2011 07:55 pm

Hollywood celebrity Hilary Swank said she deeply regrets visiting a concert held on the birthday of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader, who is accused of torture, abductions and killings by human rights groups.The two-time Oscar winner said that she was unaware of the disappearances, house torchings and extra-judicial killings reportedly orchestrated by Ramzan Kadyrov in the southern Russian republic. “I deeply regret attending this event,” Swank said on Thursday. “If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone.”Swank issued the message after the Human Rights Watch criticized her along with Belgian actor Jean Claude Van Damme and British violinist Vanessa Mae for attending a show that, it says, “trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses.”Swank said that she had been taken by the Chechen government’s “passion to make peace and to make something beautiful”. At the show, Swank also appeared to be one of the few women to wear no headscarf even though women in Chechnya are compelled to adhere to an Islami dress code. Those who refuse to obey have reportedly faced threats and harrassment from Kadyrov’s feared security forces.