Rights defenders associate Ruslan Martagov's disappearance with his comments against Chechen authorities

Human rights defenders associate the disappearance of Ruslan Martagov with his criticism of the Chechen authorities and comments concerning the third term of Ramzan Kadyrov as the leader of the republic, which were voiced by the political analyst to various media, including the "Caucasian Knot".

Ruslan Martagov disappeared on September 1. On that day, he visited Grozny by the invitation of officials from the Chechen Ministry for National Policy, External Relations and Information. Then, he stopped answering calls to his mobile phone.

One of the recent comments posted by Ruslan Martagov on the "Caucasian Knot" was about the story of the initiative of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to purchase Dmitry Tarasov, a football player from the "Locomotive" Football Club (FC). Ruslan Martagov has noted that "was another good chance for Ramzan Kadyrov to declare his 'allegiance to the Kremlin'."

Ruslan Martagov called the elections in Chechnya "a democratic veil that overshadows the dictatorship."

According to Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the leader of the International Crisis Group (ICG), the Ruslan Martagov's comments are more than enough to become a cause of his disappearance. Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya has pointed out to the similarity of the disappearance of Ruslan Martagov with the stories of Natalia Estemirova and Anna Politkovskaya.

In his interviews, Ruslan Martagov discussed the problem of corruption in Chechnya. Besides, he also noted that "no alternative points of view can exist in the republic."

Kidnapping of critics of the Chechen authorities is a well-functioning system, believes Tatiana Lokshina, the Russian programme director of the "Human Rights Watch" (HRW).

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