11:22, 30 January 2019

Rights defenders name one of victims of gay persecution in Chechnya

In Chechnya, in the course of a new wave of detentions and torture of homosexuals, Bekkhan Yusupov was detained, the Russian LGBT Network has reported. This resident of the republic had earlier received asylum in France, but came to visit his relatives at homeland, the "Novaya Gazeta" has explained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the LGBT Network received confirmations from 23 residents of Chechnya about a new wave of gay detentions and torture; in this context, an application was sent to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), demanding to investigate these cases, as well as the information about the murder related to sexual orientation.

On January 11, the "Novaya Gazeta" reported on another wave of persecution of gays in the Chechen Republic. According to the Russian LGBT Network, since the end of December 2018, about 40 people were detained in Chechnya for their supposed or actual non-traditional sexual orientation; two persons were killed.

The message posted on the website of the Russian LGBT Network on January 29 says that Bekkhan Yusupov is among those detained in Chechnya.

Mr Yusupov, a resident of Chechnya, who is about 50 years old, had been granted asylum in France, but in late December 2018, he came to his homeland to visit his relatives. However, after returning to Chechnya, he stopped communicating; and his friends found out that Bekkhan had been detained by law enforcers and was kept, together with others suspects of homosexuality, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports in the article entitled "Disappear!" and signed by Elena Milashina.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 30, 2019 at 05:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.