Count of hostages from among relatives of Chechen oppositionists drops by 10

As of today, the number of kidnapped relatives of the oppositional bloggers and human rights defenders still kept detained in Chechnya has decreased by at least 10 people; it follows from the data of the "Caucasian Knot" based on information from open sources and from Ramzan Kadyrov's critics themselves.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 22-24, 2021, Kadyrov's critics Tumso Abdurakhmanov, Minkail Malizaev and Khasan Khalitov reported about the kidnapping of their relatives living in Chechnya, as well as of relatives of Mansur Sadulaev, the founder of the "Vayfond" Association, and of Aslan Artsuev, the director of the "Ichkeria" Human Rights Centre. On December 25, 2021, it became known about the kidnapping of 37 relatives of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT); later some of them were released.

Tumso Aburakhmanov has confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" that five of his relatives, whom he had earlier declared kidnapped, had returned home.

Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), whose relatives were also kidnapped in Chechnya, told the "Caucasian Knot" on January 18 that two of his relatives had not returned home yet. As of January 12, four of his relatives had been still on the list of the kidnapped ones.

"All of my relatives are back at large, except for two paternal uncles: they have been held for more than 25 days," Abubakar has specified.

Mansur Sadulaev, the founder of "Vayfond" Association, has informed the "Caucasian Knot" today that he cannot yet confirm that all his relatives are at large. As of January 12, three Sadulaev's relatives had been on the list of kidnapped ones.

Thus, according to the data of the "Caucasian Knot" based on information from open sources and from interviewed oppositionists, as of January 18, the number of still detained relatives of critics of the Chechen authorities after kidnappings had decreased by at least seven people, and with account of the so far unconfirmed information about the release of Sadulaev's relatives, by 10 persons.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 18, 2022 at 09:06 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.