09:57, 9 August 2018

Investigators prove helpless in searching for Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev

August 8 is a year since the disappearance of the famous Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev. The 25-year-old Bakaev disappeared in Grozny; and a year after his disappearance, a source from investigating bodies has confessed that there was "no progress" in the case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that relatives stated that they had failed to find Bakaev. Igor Kochetkov, the head of the Russian LGBT Network, has linked Bakaev's disappearance to the persecution of gays in Chechnya.

The singer lived in Moscow; and in August 2017, he came to Grozny for the wedding of his sister; but then, he disappeared. On September 24, 2017, a video appeared on the Internet, in which Bakaev said that he was in Germany, but his acquaintances and rights defenders treated that video as a staged one.

His acquaintances are sure that Chechen authorities possess information about Bakaev.

In January 2017, the Chechen head, Ramzan Kadyrov, rejected the accusations of his involvement in Bakaev's disappearance and hinted that he could be killed by his relatives.

"The conclusion implied that Zelimkhan was executed by his close ones. Then, it is not clear who and why arranged these performances with Bakaev's escape abroad ... I think that we will not know anything about his fate," the head of a local NGO believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 9, 2018 at 06:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent