Chechen Diaspora treats Aslamkhanov's arrest as blessing

Murad Aslamkhanov, a resident of Austria, faces a prison term for carrying weapons, but his detention is backed by the desire of Austrian law enforcers to ensure the blogger's safety after his video appeal to the head of Chechnya, Aslamkhanov's sister and the Chechen blogger from Finland, Musa Lomaev, believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 16, the Austrian police detained Murad Aslamkhanov on charges of illegal possession of weapons; earlier, the blogger had recorded a threatening video appeal to Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya.

Murad Aslamkhanov is in custody, his sister Elina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "He faces from three to six months in prison," she has added.

In the opinion of Musa Lomaev, another Chechen blogger who lives in Finland, Aslamkhanov's detention is a way to ensure his safety. "Threats are coming today to all the Chechens who are trying to do at least anything against Kadyrov's regime. I had told Aslamkhanov about it and advised him to also apply for police protection in Austria. However, the precondition of such protection was to stop publications. But he continued them, and Austrian law enforcement bodies arrested him. It is easier for them to hide a person than trying to protect him against possible actions of a Russian state servant," Musa Lomaev believes.

Elina, Murad's sister, also believes that special services want to protect her brother. "There have already been two murders, and they said," We cannot make a mistake."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 19, 2020 at 04:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.