Instagram users do not believe appeal of man detained by law enforcers in Chechnya

On April 2, a resident of the Achkhoi-Martan District denied the information that he had been detained and beaten by law enforcers for violating the regime of self-isolation. The man recorded his video appeal under pressure, Instagram users and residents of the republic suggest.

On March 30, WhatsApp users disseminated an audio message recorded by an unidentified man who claimed that in the Achkhoi-Martan District, law enforcers detained and severely beat a 70-year-old local resident who went to a shop to buy bread.

On April 2, a video message from a resident of the Samashki village was posted on the Instagram public account "About Chechnya and More". The man claimed that the above-mentioned audio message described his situation. "A resident of the village of Samashki recorded a video message in which he told why he had been detained ... The fact is that law enforcers detained the man for staying in a public place while being in a state of alcoholic intoxication. He also denied all the rumours that policemen allegedly beat him and took him to a police station for the absence of a protective mask on his face. The man urged people not to believe those rumours and gossips," explained an annotation to the video record.

In their comments under the post on Instagram, social networks users drew their attention to abrasions on the man's face and suggested that the author of the video appeal had been forced to record a refutation.

"Look at his face. He was beaten. You can see signs of beating on his face," wrote, in particular, user region_76. "We all know how all that happens, how all those appeals are being recorded in front of a video camera," user _95_73 wrote.

A similar opinion was expressed by Supyan, a resident of the Achkhoi-Martan District. "There is no doubt that the man was forced to make such a statement. Look at him: you can see his condition," Supyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Khava, an employee of a Chechen public organization, also treats the Suleimanov's video appeal as staged. "It's not surprising that this villager from Samashki refutes the report about his detention and beating. As soon as some negative information is made public, the authorities react in its usual way," Khava shared her opinion with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 3, 2020 at 02:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.