Chechen natives claim kidnappings of relatives after beating of a law enforcer in Turkey

Relatives of Khasan Khalitov, a critic of the Chechen authorities, living in Turkey, and family members of Ilman Mamakaev, who lives in Europe, have been kidnapped in Chechnya and Moscow, Khasan Khalitov and Ilman Mamakaev report. They associate the kidnappings with the beating of a Kadyrov supporter in Istanbul.

Khasan Khalitov, a native of Chechnya, who lives in Turkey, says that his father and brother have been kidnapped in the Achkhoi-Martan District of Chechnya. According to the critic of the Chechen authorities, his 75-year-old father Gani Khalitov and 46-year-old brother Ramzan Khalitov were taken away from their own house the day before. In Moscow, Khasan’s brother Khusein Khalitov was kidnapped and taken to Chechnya.

Khasan Khalitov emphasizes that his family members do not communicate with him because of his “oppositional social activities and regular speeches on social networks against Ramzan Kadyrov.”

The native of Chechnya associates the kidnapping of his relatives with the incident of September 5 when a Kadyrov supporter had been beaten in Istanbul.

Khasan Khalitov appealed to the human rights organization “Committee against Torture”* with a complaint about the kidnapping of his relatives, in which, according to him, fellow villagers might be involved.

Ilman Mamakaev, who lives in Europe, has also reported about the kidnapping of his relatives: his father and three brothers, including a minor. The man says that his 73-year-old father was released after his moustache had been shaved off “as a sign of humiliation,” while the others are still being kept in a building of a law enforcement body.

Blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov also reports about the kidnappings of the relatives of Khasan Khalitov and Ilman Mamakaev. “In response to the beating of their colleague in Turkey, Kadyrov people organized repressions against relatives of Khasan Khalitov and Ali Mamakaev, who live in Chechnya,” the blogger wrote on his Telegram channel.

* The organization is included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs performing the functions of a foreign agent.