10:52, 16 January 2019

A native of North Ossetia voices new information about torture of gays in Chechnya

Hand painted in rainbow colors. Photo: https://pixabay.com/ru/photos/?q=ЛГБТ&hp=&image_type=all&order=&cat=&min_width=&min_height=

A young man, who left Northern Caucasus, called on all LGBT people to leave Chechnya and appealed to Ramzan Kadyrov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that according to the "Russian LGBT Network", starting from late December 2018, about 40 people were detained in Chechnya for their alleged or real sexual orientation, and two persons were killed. Two young men died as a result of "monstrous torture," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Igor Kochetkov, the head of the "Russian LGBT Network".

In 2016-2017, raids on gays in Chechnya were wavy – the first one lasted from December 2016 to February 2017; and in total three such waves of detentions are known, says the report prepared by the Russian LGBT Network and Elena Milashina, a special correspondent of the "Novaya Gazeta". The report is based on testimonies of the Chechen residents who had been detained and tortured.

In a video story of the "Present Time" edition, a native of North Ossetia, who introduced himself as Alexander Mironov, spoke about the persecution of LGBT people he knew in Chechnya.

"They are being searched, persecuted, taken away, tortured, and killed. In prison, they are being bullied, forced to lick shoes, spit at each other's faces, they are being stabbed and just beaten. That is, everything is being done to break state of mind," said the young man in the show "The Evening with Irina Romaliyskaya".

According to Alexander Mironov, he got the information directly from LGBT people who were persecuted in Chechnya. He called on all people of non-traditional sexual orientation to leave Chechnya, "in order to save their lives," and appealed to Ramzan Kadyrov.

"I believe that you, Ramzan Kadyrov, understand and know about what is happening in Chechnya at the moment. For me, as for many people who are aware of the information, what is happening in Chechnya is genocide," Alexander Mironov stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 15, 2019 at 11:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.