Chechen blogger Khalitov names blackmailer

Khasan Khalitov, an oppositional blogger has identified the person who had demanded from him to stop criticizing Chechen authorities under the threat of publicizing the degrading photos of his sister.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Khasan Khalitov, who lives in Turkey, received photos of his naked sister who was kidnapped in Chechnya together with her husband in December 2021. The man, who introduced himself as a "Kadyrov man", threatened to make the photos public if the blogger did not stop criticizing Chechen authorities. According to Khalitov, at least two of his relatives – his sister and his son-in-law – are still being held by Chechen law enforcers. In their turn, in a video message, Khalitov's relatives assert that his sister had not been kidnapped in Chechnya; they urged him to stop criticizing Chechen authorities. According to human rights defenders, Khalitov's relatives recorded the video clips under pressure.

In his Telegram channel, Khalitov has accused an assistant to the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament of blackmail.

"After conducting an investigating with my brothers, we found out the person who owns the phone number from which these messages were sent to me," Khasan said.

"Such an abomination won't stop us; we'll only fight more resolutely to the victorious end," he has summed up.

Let us remind you that with account of the information about the abducted Yangulbaev's mother, Zarema Musaeva, as of January 26, at least 11 family members of Kadyrov's critics were still held in Chechnya.