11:44, 27 December 2021

Some kidnapped Abubakar Yangulbaev's relatives released in Chechnya

Abubakar Yangulbaev. Screenshot of the video https://www.instagram.com/p/CTMV4sFICpP/

Some of the kidnapped relatives of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), have returned home. The resonance triggered in the media by their kidnapping has affected their fate, Abubakar Yangulbaev believes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 22, the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, reported about kidnapping of his relatives in Chechnya; on December 24, he added that six out of nine of them were released, but two of his wife's relatives were kidnapped. On December 22, Minkail Malizaev, another blogger, who criticizes Chechen authorities, also reported about the kidnapping of his relatives living in Chechnya; on December 3, most of them were released, except for his brother and sister. On December 25, Abubakar Yangulbaev, a rights defender, reported that 37 of his relatives had been kidnapped by Chechen law enforcers and held at police stations.

If one's friends and relatives have been kidnapped in Chechnya, this should be immediately reported to the media and human rights defenders; and appeals should be sent to official bodies, Abubakar Yangulbaev has stressed. "Otherwise, they can do with them whatever they want. The longer those who know about kidnappings remain silent, the more their relatives may suffer," he has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 26, 2021 at 11:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent