MEPs demand Arsamikov's release

The Group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on LGBT Rights has called on the Chechen authorities to release Idris Arsamikov, who was detained in Moscow and taken to his homeland. The concern about the detention of the native of Chechnya was also expressed by the French special representative for the rights of LGBT people.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 16, the SK SOS Crisis Group reported that the 28-year-old Idris Arsamikov, who had returned from the Netherlands to Russia, was detained at a Moscow airport while trying to fly out of the country and handed over to Chechen law enforcers. In Chechnya, he is in mortal danger, the Crisis Group has pointed out.

Arsamikov returned to Chechnya in the spring of 2022 for his father's funeral, after which he was detained and tortured three times. On February 17, 2023, a video appeared in social networks in which Arsamikov stated that he was at home in Chechnya and intended to go to Ukraine to participate in the special military operation (SMO) there. The video was made under duress, the SK SOS Crisis Group asserts.

The appeal to Chechen authorities calling for the release of Arsamikov was posted in the website of the above Group of the European Parliament on LGBT Rights.

"No one should be unlawfully detained or endangered because of one's sexual orientation," Fabio Massimo Castaldo, a MEP, has stated.

"I'm deeply concerned about the situation with Idris Arsamikov ... France calls for respect for his safety and fundamental rights," Jean-Marc Berton, the French Special Representative for LGBT Rights, has tweeted.

Let us remind you that Arsamikov left Russia in 2018 after he was detained, beaten up and tortured with electric current on suspicion of homosexuality.