Oct. 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGOs Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) have condemned on Tuesday the prison sentences against two Chechen brothers from the LGTBI community, who have been “falsely” accused of “helping illegal armed groups”.
AI’s director for Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, has branded the trial against Salej Magamadov, sentenced to eight years, and Ismail Isaev, sentenced to six, respectively, as “absurd” and has asked the Chechen authorities for their “freedom to immediate and unconditional way.
“His only ‘crime’ in the eyes of the Chechen authorities is his open participation in the LGBTI community and peaceful criticism of local authorities. Freely expressing himself has become a serious crime in Chechnya and Russia in general,” he said.
Struthers was referring to the fact that, before the Fifth Court of Cassation in Pyatigorsk upheld their convictions, both Isaev — who is homosexual — and Magamadov — a genderfluid person — moderated Osal Naj 95, a Telegram channel run by young critic of the Chechen authorities.
In August 2019, Ismail Isaev, then 16, was kidnapped, held incommunicado, tortured and otherwise ill-treated before being forced to “apologize” on camera for his alleged relationship with Osal Naj 95, as reported by AI.
For its part, HRW has stated, before knowing the conviction, that the Chechen police kept them detained for months in basement cells, also confirming the torture and alleging that they were forced to “falsely” confess that they had helped members of armed groups.
“The abuse against them is part of a long-standing pattern of persecution of critics by the Chechen authorities,” Tanya Lokshina, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at HRW, said in a statement.
The NGO added that Russia’s main rights group, Memorial, considers the two to be political prisoners, in light of the abuses against them, as well as “widespread abuses against LGBTI people in Chechnya.”
“The lack of effective investigations into widely documented illegal detention and torture serves to encourage this practice. Key international actors must continue to pressure Moscow to end the persecution of LGBT people and government critics in Chechnya and ensure justice.” for the survivors”, has settled HRW.
