Gay Chechen apologized to Kadyrov and accused Western media of pressure

Фото: Depositphotos

Movsar Eskerkhanov, who became the first native of Chechnya to publicly admit his homosexuality, asked for forgiveness from the leadership of the republic in a Chechen television story and stated that his confession was made under pressure from Western journalists in order to “disgrace him before the Chechen people and ruler.”

Photo: video frame

In late September, the American edition Time published an article about a resident of Chechnya, who went to Germany several years ago and is unable to obtain refugee status. In the video attached to the article, Movsar Eskerkhanov tells that with his story he wants to help other Chechen gays and urges not to be afraid of anyone.

“I will not hide my face. I don't even want to hide my face. Let the whole world see my face. If they sent me to Russia, they would take me to Chechnya and they would simply kill me. Even if I won’t be here tomorrow, I want to save these people […] I can say parting words to other gays: you shouldn’t be afraid, you should move on with your life,” Eskerkhanov says in the video.

On Monday, Chechen television showed an announcement of a report in which Movsar Eskerkhanov claims that journalists Time were intended to disgrace the Chechens. According to Movsar, he called the western journalists himself; they allegedly promised to help him with obtaining the documents in Germany, but did not help.

“They disgraced me in front of the Chechen people and the Chechen ruler, they set me up. Therefore, I apologize to the residents of Chechnya, the leadership of Chechnya, Chechens living in the North Caucasus and Europe,” says the hero of the TV story.

Movsar justifies his act by taking anti-epileptic pills due to illness, however, according to him, he is now recovering.

"Got off track"

In early November, Chechen state television published a special report about Movsar's family. Journalists found her in the village of Achkhoy-Martan, Chechen Republic. Eskerkhanov's sister says that he is an adopted child and caused them a lot of problems when he lived at home. “Now if he’s gone astray, we don’t need him,” she says.

Movsar’s mother refused to comment; a Chechen TV journalist commented on her refusal by saying that she was ashamed to look people in the eyes. In the same story, the psychotherapist says about Movsar: “He is most likely a psychopath.”

The doctor makes his conclusions on the basis of videos in which Eskerkhanov in an aggressive form promises to take revenge on all his offenders, who ruined his life and forced him to leave Chechnya.

After the release of this report, Movsar recorded a reciprocal video message in which he confirmed the fact that he had repeatedly sought medical help in Europe, but did not say what kind of help he had been provided.

In Germany, Eckhard Meuse, head of the German-Caucasian Cultural Center, helps Movsaru obtain a residence permit. In a conversation with the Russian service BBC, he told that a man came to him, who introduced himself as a Chechen journalist and asked for contacts of Movsar Eskerkhanov.

“It was a little strange. One man came to me and said that he was a journalist, but he was a builder. I asked why you need Movsar? He said, I want to do something for the Chechen media. I answered: I’m not sure that Movsar wants to do something for Chechen television. I won’t give you the number, but I will convey your request to him. Then they phoned, I didn’t know that they had met,” Maas said.

According to the human rights activist, Eskerkhanov “in a sense declared war on Chechen society” and is constantly in danger. He has been attacked several times by Chechens living in Europe over three years, and the possibility that he could be killed at any time is very real, Maas says.

Contact with Movsar Eskerkhanov BBC has not yet succeeded.

Allegations of torture

At the beginning of April, an investigation was published in Novaya Gazeta, which stated that more than a hundred men were detained in Chechnya over the course of several weeks and were suspected of having homosexual relationships. According to media reports, at least three men are known to have been killed by the kidnappers.

The publication also published material with monologues of survivors of abducted people accused of non-traditional sexual orientation. In it, the victims talked about secret gay prisons in Chechnya.

Ramzan Kadyrov - . Photo: Depositphotos

At the end of April, the publication reported that it had transmitted to the Russian Investigation Committee all the information about the persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya, including a list of personal data of 26 residents of the region who had been subjected to repression. Also, the materials were transferred to the Commissioner for Human Rights under President Tatiana Moskalkova.

The press secretary of the head of Chechnya, Alvi Karimov, in turn, called the information from Novaya Gazeta “an absolute lie,” adding that in Chechnya men have “only one orientation.” Similar statements were made by other representatives of Chechnya.

On October 16, a press conference was held in Moscow by Maksim Lapunov, who became the first person openly, without asking for anonymity, to report persecution of gays in the Chechen Republic.

Lapunov, a native of the Omsk region, according to him, lived in Chechnya for two years, selling balloons. He claims that on March 16 he was detained in the republic, and after 12 days he was kept in an unknown basement - supposedly a “secret prison” of the Chechen criminal investigation department, where he was beaten and tortured.

On August 19, the head of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Igor Kalyapin, and the organization’s lawyer, Vladimir Smirnov, introduced Lapunov to Tatiana Moskalkova.

Moskalkova indirectly confirmed her meeting with Lapunov, saying that one representative of the LGBT community had turned to her with a complaint about the persecution for his sexual orientation. Moskalkova confirmed that she had sent an appeal to the investigating authorities, which had begun work.

“It has been confirmed that there is a person, there is an applicant. And when the investigation is completed, it will be possible to talk about the full amount of information,” she clarified.

However, the director of the Moscow bureau Human Rights Watch Tatyana Lokshina claims that, despite the fact that several weeks have passed, no active investigative actions have been carried out.

On November 1, the Investigation Department of the North Caucasus Federal District canceled the decision to refuse to initiate proceedings on the application of Maxim Lapunov. On the progress of the investigation since then nothing has been officially reported.

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