Khusein Betelgeriev returns home beaten

Members of the International Crisis Group (ICG) have confirmed the information of the "Caucasian Knot" stating that Khusein Betelgeriev had returned home. According to the report, the Chechen bard was beaten.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that family members of Khusein Betelgeriev could not locate him since the evening of March 31. According to them, "two unidentified men in black uniform" took the man away from his home in the village of Kalinin in Grozny. His wife Karima Betelgerieva reports that on April 2, she filed a complaint about the disappearance of her husband to the police. On April 4, the woman complained that no investigative actions had been carried out.

Yesterday, on April 11, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Kheda Saratova, a Chechen human rights defender, that the family members of Khusein Betelgeriev reported his return home. However, Kheda Saratova failed to answer the questions of where Khusein Betelgeriev had been for all the time and who had returned him home. The Chechen human rights defender referred to lack of information.

The information on the Khusein Betelgeriev's return home was also confirmed by Varvara Pakhomenko, a researcher of the International Crisis Group, and Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the project director for Northern Caucasus of the International Crisis Group.

"Khusein Betelgeriev is at home alive, although severely beaten. For the present, it is good news," reports Varvara Pakhomenko today on her Facebook page.

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