18:29, 16 October 2017

Gay detained in Chechnya publicly tells about torture for the first time

A press conference in Moscow with Maxim Lapunov. October 16, 2017. Photo by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent

Maxim Lapunov said that in March this year he was detained in Chechnya and spent 12 days in the cellar, where he was beaten up.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 13, Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russia’s Ombudsperson, spoke about the only complaint received from Chechnya about persecution for one’s homosexual orientation.

Mr Lapunov told at a press conference in Moscow today that he came from the Omsk Region to Chechnya for work in 2015, and all this time lived in the republic. According to his story, in March he was detained in a Grozny street by people in civilian clothes.

"The main charge against me was that I'm a gay," said Lapunov.

According to his story, he refused to inform power agents about other gays living in Grozny, therefore, they began "knocking testimonies out" of him. Under the threat of torture "with electric current and truncheons," Lapunov told about one man, who was later placed into the same cellar and beaten up.

According to Lapunov, during the first seven days he was beaten up and intimidated.

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