Rights defenders: investigators are passive in gay Lapunov’s case

For four weeks, there were no investigative actions on the statement Maxim Lapunov, a gay detained in Chechnya, Igor Kalyapin, the head of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), has stated. The information about the Lapunov’s case was promulgated in order to push the investigation, Tatiana Lokshina, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative, has added.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today the gay detained in Chechnya made his first public appearance.

His press conference was organized by the “Novaya Gazeta”, the HRW’s Moscow office, the CPT and the LGBT Network.

"For 12 days I was in a cell without amenities close to a pool of blood, being threatened and insulted... They literally beat off my hands and feet... Every night they brought a new ‘defendant’; and I heard cries and pleas for mercy," said Lapunov.

"They forced me by threats to leave my fingerprints on some firearms; and recorded a video that I was detained because I was a gay," he said.

Prior to his detention, for two years, Lapunov was engaged in organizing events and show business in Chechnya.

"Many people knew me; and since I was detained in a crowded place, people informed my relatives, who filed an application about kidnapping. Probably because they were looking for me I was released, although I had an impression that they were going to kill me," said Lapunov.

Igor Kalyapin, the head of the CPT, has noted that in late August Lapunov personally appealed to the Russia’s Ombudsperson.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.