Rights defenders organize action in defence of singer Zelimkhan Bakaev

Rights defenders and activists from Russia, the US, and the European countries have organized an action under hashtag #BringBakaevBack with the demand to find out the whereabouts of Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev. On their pages in Facebook, participants of the action declare they have no doubt that the singer was kidnapped.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the whereabouts of Zelimkhan Bakaev, a 26-year-old native of Grozny, is unknown since August 8. The singer's friends suggested that Zelimkhan Bakaev could be kidnapped. However, some other people associated his disappearance with a conflict in the family. The Zelimkhan Bakaev's mother has appealed to the police with a request to help in the search for her son. This was reported on August 18 by a source from the law enforcement agencies in Chechnya.

According to a member of a Chechen NGO, as of September 1, there is no information about the whereabouts of Zelimkhan Bakaev, and the police do nothing to find him.

"Therefore, on the Internet, activists arranged the action #BringBakaevBack to draw public attention to the singer's disappearance." There is no doubt that he was kidnapped. Besides, the law enforcement agencies have produced no reaction, and no criminal case has been instituted," said the NGO member as quoted by the "Kavkaz.Realii".

On August 31, the launch of the action under the hashtag #BringBakaevBack was reported by the NGO "Human Rights First".

"We are worried about disappeared singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who was detained by law enforcers after his return to Grozny," reports the message posted on the NGO's page in Twitter.

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