Residents of Chechnya express scepticism about relatives criticizing a blogger

Minkail Malizaev, a Chechen native residing in Germany, reported he had been beaten and his wife and children had been deported from the country. His relatives reported that they had voluntarily returned home and called on the blogger to stop criticizing the authorities. Residents of Chechnya voiced their doubts on a story presented by the TV Channel.

On April 30, a video was posted on YouTube, in which Minkail Malizaev, a native of Chechnya, who lived in Berlin, said that he had posted on Facebook his appeals to Chechens living in Europe with calls to hold rallies "against the lawlessness in the Chechen Republic and generally in the Russian Federation."

After that, according to him, the German law enforcement agencies got a complaint that he was organizing a "terrorist grouping in Europe," and on April 28, his family members were deported to Russia, while he himself was left in Germany.

Then a native of Chechnya, unknown to the blogger, persuaded him to record an audio message with apologies to Ramzan Kadyrov, Minkail Malizaev said. The blogger complied with the request, but later, according to him, under threat of reprisal for his wife and children, he was asked to record an apology also on video. After his refusal to record a video with apologies, Minkail Malizaev, according to him, was severely beaten.

On May 2, a TV story entitled "Another lie voiced by Minkail Malizaev" was shown on the news of the "Grozny" TV Channel and also posted on YouTube.

Luiza Israilova, the Minkail Malizaev's wife, reported on the air that she had returned to Chechnya on her own free will and that no one oppressed her in the republic. The woman also said that she often asked her husband not to post on the Internet the appeals with accusations against the authorities.

The mother of Minkail Malizaev, his younger brother and a brother of his wife also voiced on the air of the "Grozny" TV Channel their dissatisfaction with the blogger's actions.

Lukman, a member of a Chechen NGO, believes the TV story with the participation of the Minkail Malizaev's relatives was "staged."

"The story shown by the 'Grozny' TV Channel was a staged action. If a person fails to repent and apologize to the authorities for criticism or some negative statements, then he is exposed as an exceptionally negative character and his relatives are forced to condemn him," the NGO member told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Stories devoted to public condemnations by relatives have become "typical" for the Chechen TV Channel, said Fatima, a member of a Chechen NGO.

"At first, that seemed wild to me when in the news, colleagues or relatives and friends publicly condemned someone. However, now I perceive that in a different way. This is just the reality of today," the woman noted.

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