22 July 2020, 21:41
In Chechnya, relatives of Mamikhan Umarov take the blame for his murder
Men from among relatives of blogger Mamikhan Umarov, a critic of the Chechen authorities, who was killed in Vienna, recorded a video appeal. In the video, the men apologized for the statements the blogger had voiced. Furthermore, the relatives declared themselves guilty of his murder. Users of social networks believe the apology had been made under pressure.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 4, Mamikhan Umarov, a native of Chechnya, well-known as "Anzor from Vienna", was shot dead in the capital of Austria. In his videos posted on YouTube, the blogger criticized Ramzan Kadyrov and repeatedly insulted the leader of Chechnya and his parents.
Members of the Chechen Diaspora in Austria are sure that Umarov's murder was politically motivated. Earlier, on July 8, the journalist, Suzanne Scholl, the author of the book "Daughters of War: Surviving in Chechnya" in her interview with the Austrian ORF TV Channel, called the Umarov's murder political and stated Kadyrov's "long arms".
Starting from this morning, the video appeal from Mamikhan Umarov's relatives in the Chechen language is being disseminated on social networks and in messenger groups. The video shows more than ten men, including elderly ones, who are standing in a room with their heads bowed. Three of them take turns making statements to video cameras.
Today, the video record has been also posted on the Instagram public account "ChP Chechnya". The message accompanying the video summarizes the essence of what the men had said and also clarifies that the relatives of Mamikhan Umarov "repented before all Chechens for the unforgivable insults he had inflicted on the whole people by following the lead of the secret services." The men "admitted that they did not control their fugitive relative and so they had to stop him according to the ancient Chechen customs in order to remove the stigma from their family."
Khusein Iskhanov, the head of the Cultural Association of Ichkeria in Austria, does not believe in the sincerity of what the people had said in the video.
"It's hard to imagine more absurd statements. The relatives were forced to take the blame for the murder of the blogger. The authorities are trying to expose the political murder as some sort of domestic conflict," Khusein Iskhanov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 22, 2020 at 05:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondents
