24 May 2023, 12:33
Salman Mukaev, native of Chechnya, is under threat of extradition from Armenia to Russia
In Yerevan, a court session is scheduled on the case of Salman Mukaev, a native of Grozny, who is under threat of extradition to Russia, the SK SOS Crisis Group has reported.
Salman Mukaev was forced to flee Chechnya after being tortured: in February 2020, law enforcers forced him to confess to having sexual ties with males and sign a cooperation paper. Mukaev left Russia, while he was put on the wanted list and feared extradition.
Now, Mukaev is in Armenia and cannot leave for a safe country, since he has been put on the wanted list by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). He is threatened with extradition to Russia and then return to Chechnya, the SK SOS Crisis Group has reported.
"In case of a negative decision, we can talk about the lack of political will to protect the rights of a Russian citizen from his own country," Mukaev's advocate has stated.
Rights defenders have called on Armenian authorities not to extradite Salman Mukaev to Russia, "where he is in mortal danger." "Chechen law enforcers want to 'punish' him for his escape and refusal to cooperate," the report says.
In 2016-2017, there were raids on gays in Chechnya; at least three waves of detentions are known, according to the report of Elena Milashina, a special correspondent of the "Novaya Gazeta", and information of the Russian LGBT Network.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 23, 2023 at 02:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
