Amriev rejects advocate Zaikin

Murad Amriev, an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) world champion, who was brought to Chechnya after his extradition from Belarus, decided to abandon his lawyer by agreement, Pyotr Zaikin, who is representing the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). Amriev himself reported this to the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Murad Amriev was detained in Belarus as a person wanted on suspicion of using a fraudulent document. On June 9, it became known that Amriev was taken to Chechnya. In the evening of June 9, Igor Kalyapin, the head of the CPT, announced the release of the athlete. Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya denied the motives of blood feud in Amriev's case; and the athlete himself has stated that at this stage he is satisfied with the respect of his rights and is confident of his safety in Chechnya.

Today, around 10:50 p.m. Moscow time, Murad Amriev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he decided to reject the services of Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate of the CPT. According to Amriev, he made this decision "independently, without any pressure by Chechen law enforcers."

Let us remind you that earlier today, rights defenders expressed their opinion that Amriev's statement about the respect of his rights in Chechnya was caused by the fact that he became a hostage of the situation: now he is not really harassed, but he cannot express himself completely freely.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.