President of Chechnya refutes information about pressure on Aslan Maskhadov's son

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has denied the information about the pressure exerted on Anzor, Aslan Maskhadov's son, and his relatives with the aim to force him to return to Chechnya. Mr Kadyrov accused the yellow press of disseminating such news and has noted that "son is not responsible for his father."

Anzor Maskhadov himself has stated earlier that he and his relatives were blackmailed and offered to come back to their homeland, otherwise threatening the relatives who live in Chechnya with execution.

According to Ramzan Kadyrov, he knows Anzor very well back from the first Chechen war. "Anzor knows that there's no pressure on him, nobody spoke to him and nobody is interested in him. If he comes back, let him live freely in Chechnya," said President Kadyrov in his interview to the "Russia Today" TV Company.

Ramzan Kadyrov has added that Anzor had never supported his father.

Anzor Maskhadov, who now lives in Norway, has stated earlier: "I worry for my family, for my relatives who are today in Chechnya, because several times (even many times) they were pressed on and blackmailed."

According to his story, in the latest talk of this sort he was told point-blank: should his family fail to come back, they will face "something very bad."

In Anzor's opinion, the Chechen authorities believe that return of Aslan Maskhadov's son will give a positive signal to other Chechen emigrants and indicate that the situation in Chechnya is OK. However, Anzor Maskhadov would not agree with this conclusion. He is concerned with the fate of his relatives and reported the received threats to the Norwegian police.

Maskhadov's statement was made at the background of some separatists' return to Chechnya and news about attempts on Chechens abroad. The Chechen authorities are categorically refuting any links between the two processes and keep stating that media play into the hands of those who want to undermine the Chechens' comeback process to their homeland.