Video of Ibragimov's refusal to return from Chechnya to Canada posted on Instagram

On November 22, Akhmed Dudaev, the head of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Company), has posted a video in the social network with a Canadian resident Azamat Ibragimov, a native of Chechnya, who decided to stay at his homeland, a voice-over-the-screen says.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Azamat Ibragimov, a native of Chechnya, who came to Chechnya from Canada as a guest and went missing, recorded, a week after his disappearance, a video of his walk in central Grozny, in which he urged the Chechens living abroad to stop criticizing the republic's authorities. Instagram users and residents of Chechnya have suggested that Ibragimov made his video not voluntarily.

On November 22, the above Akhmed Dudaev stated that Ibragimov had not been kidnapped, and as a proof posted a video with him. "According to <media>, Azamat Ibragimov was kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed. <...> I had to invite Azamat in order that he conveys to people that he <...> is alive and healthy," says the voice accompanying the video, in which Azamat Ibragimov, smiling, is talking over tea in the Chechen language while sitting in soma large room. Another man and a woman are also visible in the video, as well as portraits of Ramzan Kadyrov and Vladimir Putin on the wall.

A male voice over-the-screen declares that Ibragimov will not return to Canada. "Azamat is sitting here, saying that no one touched and tortured him. According to his story, he is not going to leave; he will work here, at home," the off-the-screen voice has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 22, 2019 at 11:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.