ICRF finds two persons from the list of Chechen gays of "Novaya Gazeta"

Investigators have questioned two Chechen residents, who, according to the "Novaya Gazeta", were persecuted as members of the LGBT community; both deny that they are gays, said Tatiana Moskalkova, Russian Ombudsperson.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April, the "Novaya Gazeta" published an article about mass detentions in Chechnya of men suspected of being sexually unconventional. On May 30, Tatiana Moskalkova reported that she had sent a request to Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), in connection with information about persecution of LGBTs in Chechnya.

According to Ms Moskalkova, she received the answer from the ICRF of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), which says that investigators had managed to find and question two persons from the two lists of the "Novaya Gazeta", containing 24 and 27 persons.

"They are live and sound and have nothing to do with homosexuality; and they have no complaints," Tatiana Moskalkova has stated today.

She has noted that the search for other people from the lists is difficult, since only their surnames and initials are indicated. According to Moskalkova, investigators asked for an extension of the period for conducting operative and search actions.

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