Head of Salambek Maigov's election staff abducted, then freed

Ibragim Umarkhadzhiyev, head of Salambek Maigov's election staff, who was kidnapped Wednesday in Grozny, has been freed, as told by Maigov's staff to the correspondent of Prague Watchdog.

After two hours in captivity, Umarkhadzhiyev was released without any conditions. No details of the abduction are available other than he was not subjected to any brutality, and the assailants were armed and belonged to one of the Chechen security forces. It is also not known where he was held captive.

Maigov, who is a candidate in the Russian parliamentary elections scheduled for December 7, considers the incident an attempt to exert pressure on him and his supporters. At the same time, he said he knew who organized the kidnapping, alleging it was a rival candidate. Although he knows him personally, he refused to disclose his name.

"This provocation is but one element of the general policy of some candidates who lack for the nation's support and try to create problems for us by means of provocations and contrasts. I don't want Chechnya, which needs peace and consensus, to become a land of lawlessness," said Maigov.

He stated he was not going to withdraw his candidacy as Chechnya's deputy to the Russian State Duma. According to his own words, he intends to fight till the end and win the election. And neither he nor his supporters doubt his victory.