Residents of Chechnya comment on authorities' reaction to Uspanov's death

The Chechen society has no trust in the official version of Askhab Uspanov's suicide at the police station; this was stated by many Chechen residents. They drew attention to Chechen authorities' insufficient reaction the incident and compared it with the statements after detention of the Chechen Minister for Emergencies (MfE) in Dagestan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Askhab Uspanov, a native of Chechnya, was detained in Moscow after the terror act at the Crocus City Hall and died a few hours later in the police station. According to his mother, he was tortured before death. Telegram channels posted a video showing signs of injuries on the young man's body. The version of Uspanov's suicide after being detained for a minor offense looks absurd, human rights defenders have emphasized, pointing out that Moscow law enforcers have repeatedly committed unlawful actions against natives from Chechnya, but this is the first case of death in the police station.

Chechen authorities have actually ignored the death of Askhab Uspanov, and the statement by Mansur Soltaev, the republic's Ombudsperson, about his death was made primarily to avoid any association of Chechnya with the terror act at the Crocus City Hall, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a blogger, has stated. Commentators in the social networks agree that Soltaev is not interested in investigating Uspanov's death. The efficiency of this inquiry is questionable, human rights defenders have noted.

Chechens disbelieve in the official version of Uspanov's suicide, since "this fails to meet either the national mentality or religious rules," said Islam, a resident of Chechnya. He has noted that the detention of a Chechen and "a prejudiced attitude towards him solely on the basis of his nationality is not a new practice."

A Chechen journalist has noted that from public reports some kind of conflict of the detainee with law enforcers is obvious. Regardless of Ramzan Kadyrov's reaction, this story could not help but become painful for Chechens, the journalist believes.