Opposition Telegram channel employees report about detention of their relatives in Chechnya

At least six relatives of people who collaborate with the NIYSO opposition Telegram channel have been detained in Chechnya. They have been detained amid the Ramzan Kadyrov’s threats against those involved in the attack on a road-and-patrol police service (known as DPS) checkpoint in Achkhoi-Martan. The leader of Chechnya claimed that four employees of the NIYSO opposition Telegram channel have been involved in the attack on the law enforcers in Achkhoi-Martan.

Mass police raids are taking place in Chechnya: the police are checking cars, mobile phones, and conducting door-to-door visits, the NIYSO Telegram channel reports. At least six relatives of the people collaborating with the opposition Telegram channel have been detained.

A NIYSO Telegram channel’s administrator pointed out the discrepancies between the video of the attack and the photo of the body at the rally in Achkhoi-Martan. “In the footage of the attack, the man was wearing white clothes, and at the rally, the body was already dressed in a military uniform,” he noted.

“The authorities ... voiced an ultimatum: if we do not stop our information activities, then in a month, they will confiscate the property and expel our relatives from the republic. At the meeting, Ramzan Kadyrov mentioned our employees as the organizers of the attack on the law enforcers in Achkhoi-Martan, and a certain employee of the Ukrainian special services was mentioned as the curator,” the NIYSO Telegram channel’s administrator reported.

“Ramzan Kadyrov threatened regular speakers of the NIYSO Telegram channel ... Subjecting a person to pressure through his or her relatives is a long-standing method of the law enforcement bodies in Chechnya. Any of our relatives can be kidnapped, tortured, or killed,” another employee of the NIYSO Telegram channel added.