Charlie Hebdo publishes caricatures on gays' persecution in Chechnya

The French satirical magazine has responded to LGBTs' persecutions in Chechnya with a series of caricatures.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 1, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported about mass detentions in Chechnya of men suspected of unconventional sexual orientation. Later, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported with reference to gays persecuted in Chechnya that in Argun, a "secret prison" had been arranged for people with unconventional sexual orientation. According to the "Radio Liberty", another similar prison, where members of sexual minorities are beaten and humiliated, is located in the Chechen village of Tsotsi-Yurt.

The paper version of the magazine published the caricatures on April 19; however, the images themselves called "Hunting gays in Chechnya" are discussed in the Russian segment of Internet since they were posted there on May 12.

The material contains a series of images entitled "Gay Hunting Opened", "Gays Will Be Deported," "Protruding away your little finger prohibited", "Rainbow is forbidden", "Freddie Mercury's fans get molten lead into ears", etc.

According to inscription under one caricature, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is a hero.

So far, no comments have been made by Kadyrov or other Chechen officials.

Earlier, in December 2016, Ramzan Kadyrov commented on Charlie Hebdo's caricatures, published after the Tu-154 aircraft crash near Sochi. Then, Mr Kadyrov treated the magazine's editorial policy as "immoral, licentious and inhuman." "It has nothing to do – directly or indirectly – with the freedom of the press," he wrote in his Instagram.

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