World / Russia Chechnya Requires Marrying Couples Be HIV-Negative Imams demand certificate before approving marriages By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff Posted Jan 18, 2011 4:47 PM CST Copied A girl walks near city decorations marking the upcoming New Year in downtown Grozny, Chechnya, southern Russia, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev) Chechnya's Muslim authorities have handed down a new edict that requires all marrying couples to prove they are HIV-negative, Reuters reports. The order is not exactly a "law"—in fact, it violates Russian law, say human rights advocates—but given the wide influence of the nation's Islamic clerics, it carries great weight. An imam can now approve a marriage only after seeing an HIV-negative certificate. (More Russia stories.) Report an error