Tumso exposes Kadyrov people's attempts to discredit Gezmakhmaev

The Chechen blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, has commented on the testimonies of the Chechen law enforcer, Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, about torturing detainees widespread in Chechnya and Chechen authorities' reaction to the publication of the "Novaya Gazeta".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 15, the "Novaya Gazeta" posted a story told by Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, a former fighter of the Akhmat Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment, who witnessed extrajudicial executions in Chechnya. After that, in a video appeal to Vladimir Putin, the fighters of the Akhmat Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment called on the Russian President to stop the "information war" against the special-purpose police regiment. According to one of the Chechen law enforcers who voiced the video appeal, the fighters of the special-purpose police regiment are being forced to have one of them "take responsibility for stopping the insults to the entire personnel."

The Gezmakhmaev's story is very valuable, since it is the first detailed description of the torture of detainees in Chechnya given by a person "from the other side," Abdurakhmanov has noted in the video posted on the YouTube on March 19. He has stated that the testimonies of the former law enforcer confirm the stories of refugees from Chechnya, who described the same torture in dungeons.

Tumso has treated the reaction of Chechen authorities and law enforcers to the Gezmakhmaev's testimonies published by "Novaya Gazeta" as "real hysteria." He has drawn attention to the comment of one of Gezmakhmaev's former colleagues in the Akhmat Kadyrov Special Police Regiment, shown on air of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Company).

The fighter of the above regiment, whose words were broadcast live on air, speaks disparagingly of Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, calling him a "traitor." "A guy who works, worries about his people, loves his people, no matter how difficult it may be for him, won't talk to anyone about Chechen problems," the law enforcer said in the video.

Tumso believes that this comment is truly describing the ideological attitudes and principles of Chechen law enforcers, involved in human rights violations. "This is their true line of thought; they don't think that this should not be done, that this crime and similar things are unacceptable; no, they justify everything they do. They believe that it's right, but telling about it is impossible," said Abdurakhmanov.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 19, 2021 at 08:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.