Blogger Khasan Khalitov's sister humiliated in Chechnya

Khasan Khalitov, a blogger living in Turkey, has received a photo of his naked sister, who was abducted in Chechnya, accompanied by a demand to stop criticizing Chechen authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 24, 2021, Khasan Khalitov, a critic of Chechen authorities, informed that at least five of his relatives, including his father and brothers, had been kidnapped. On January 7, Akhmed Dudaev, the Chechen Minister of Press and Information, posted a video in which Khalitov's relatives assured that no one had kidnapped them. Chechen authorities staged a performance; there is still no information about the whereabouts of his relatives, Khalitov asserts.

"Khalitov received a photo of his sister, in which she is pictured naked. They demand from him to immediately stop his activities, otherwise the photos will appear on the Internet," says the Telegram channel of the "Vayfond" Human Rights Association.

"Khasana, Khalitov's sister, is being held hostage and humiliated and tortured," Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a blogger, has stated in his video message.

Let us remind you that last December, Abubakar Yangulbaev, a human rights defender, Tumso Abdurakhmanov and Minkail Malizaev, bloggers, Mansur Sadulaev, the founder of the "Vayfond" Association, and Aslan Artsuev, the director of the "Ichkeria" Human Rights Centre, also reported about kidnappings of their relatives living in Chechnya. With account of the information about the abduction of Yangulbaev's mother, Zarema Musaeva, at least 11 family members of Kadyrov's critics are being held in Chechnya.