Chechen law enforcers detain Vakharagov amateur singers

The brothers Ayub and Askhab Vakharagov were detained for an "educative conversation", because they violated the ban on singing the songs not approved by the Chechen authorities, Kheda Saratova, a member of the Human Rights Council under the head of Chechnya, stated on September 8. According to a source in the Gudermes District, law enforcers have been keeping the brothers for two weeks already.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 15, the Minister of Culture of Chechnya, Khozh-Baudi Daaev, on air of the "Grozny" Chechen State TV and Radio Company (known as ChGTRK) criticized the amateur performers from Chechnya, who were posting their records on the Internet. Only performers approved by the commission may perform concerts and post records of their songs on the Internet, said the minister.

The Chechen singers, brothers Ayub and Askhab Vakharagov were detained by law enforcers for an "educative conversation", Ms Saratova, a member of the above Council, said citing a law enforcement source.

According to her story, the Vakharagov brothers "repeatedly performed songs of dubious content and were warned, in particular, by the Minister of Culture of the Chechen Republic, about the inadmissibility of such a repertoire," but continued performing while advertising their activities in social networks.

"It was just a conversation; no other measures were applied to the singers," the "Kavkaz.Realii" agency quotes Ms Saratova as saying.

However, a source of the agency from the Gudermes District voiced out a different version: law enforcers detained the brothers in the village of Oiskhara and have been keeping them for two weeks already without charging.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 9, 2019 at 12:38 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.