Advocates treat health condition of Chechens Magamadov and Isaev in SIZO as satisfactory

Brothers Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev, arrested on suspicion of supporting a Chechen militant from Aslan Byutukaev's grouping, have no complaints about health problems and look satisfactory, their advocates have informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 4, law enforcers took Salekh Magamadov and his brother Ismail from Nizhny Novgorod to Chechnya. They are suspected of helping a militant from Aslan Byutukaev's grouping. The brothers reported beatings and threats in Chechnya. Human rights defenders believe that transferring the case to the Directorate for Chechnya of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) will not lead to any punishment of the law enforcers involved.

Alexander Nemov, an advocate from the LGBT Network, said that he had last seen his clients on March 24, and the brothers' health condition raised no concerns.

Chechen law enforcers are looking for relatives of the persons they dislike in order to put pressure on them, said Ruslan Kutaev, President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations. However, he did not rule out that in this situation everything could be different.

"In the Chechen society, having a non-traditional sexual orientation is a shame; and the shadow falls on relatives ... In this case, it is possible that they made statements even on their own initiative," Mr Kutaev has noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 26, 2021 at 09:41 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.