22:51, 2 July 2024

Kadyrov critic Khasan Khalitov reports kidnapping his relatives in Chechnya

Khasan Khalitov. Screenshot https://svtv.org/news/2021-12-25/v-chiechnie-pokhishchieny/

Khasan Khalitov, an oppositional blogger and a Ramzan Kadyrov's critic, has stated that several days ago authorities summoned his father and two brothers to Grozny for a talk; and since then their whereabouts remain unknown.

According to Khasan, who lives in Turkey, his father disappeared on June 28 after leaving home. On the same day, Khalitov's brothers were summoned to Grozny for a talk.

Khasan Khalitov believes that the kidnapping of his relatives have to do with his attempt to talk about the abductions in Chechnya with Aishat Kadyrova, a daughter of the head of Chechnya. The blogger fears demonstrative executions of his relatives. He has noted that when his relatives had been kidnapped earlier, his father was released on the same day, the "OVD-Info"* project has informed.

Khalitov has added that earlier, after kidnapping of his relatives, certain demands were put forward to him, for example, to delete some video clip. Now, no demands were announced.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier Khalitov repeatedly complained about the persecution of his relatives in Chechnya. In particular, on January 27, 2022, he said that his father was fired from his job, and his sister was forced to close her business.

On January 24, 2022, Khalitov received a photo of his naked sister, who had been abducted in Chechnya along with her husband in December 2021. According to the blogger, the person who sent the photos threatened to make them public if Khalitov failed to stop criticizing Chechen authorities.

Khalitov's sister was not abducted or photographed naked, Khasan's relatives stated in a video message, calling on him to stop criticizing Chechen authorities. According to human rights defenders, Khalitov's relatives recorded the above video under pressure.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 2, 2024 at 08:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot