23:44, 24 March 2021

Hero of “Novaya Gazeta” investigations on extrajudicial executions heads Chechen police

Aslan Iraskhanov. Photo by the "Grozny Inform" https://www.grozny-inform.ru/news/politic/117832/

Aslan Iraskhanov, a former commander of the Akhmat Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment, has been appointed the acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya to replace Apti Alaudinov. Earlier, Aslan Iraskhanov has been included in the US sanctions list.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 18, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree dismissing Apti Alaudinov from the post of the deputy chief of the Chechen police.

Apti Alaudinov's dismissal took place after the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” posted an article containing an interview with Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, a former fighter of the Akhmat Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment, who, according to his story, witnessed extrajudicial executions in Chechnya. Apti Alaudinov personally prosecuted dissidents on trumped-up cases and intimidated critics of the authorities, and in connection with the above he got the reputation of a cruel person in the republic, human rights defenders note.

In December 2019, Aslan Iraskhanov, then the chief of the Grozny police, was included in the US sanctions list. According to Washington, Aslan Iraskhanov was “involved in gross violations of human rights” and is responsible for the extrajudicial executions of 27 people.

Aslan Iraskhanov is also mentioned in a letter of Suleiman Gezmakhmaev made public by the “Novaya Gazeta”. The former fighter of the Akhmat Kadyrov special-purpose police regiment claims that Aslan Iraskhanov was involved in the detention of 56 residents of Shali in January 2017.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 24, 2021 at 02:07 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.