Relatives of NIYSO activists deported from Chechnya after public humiliation

Mass repressions by Chechen authorities against alleged supporters of the opposition Telegram channel NIYSO have begun after a teenager attacked a traffic police checkpoint in the Chechen village of Achkoi-Martan earlier in April. According to NIYSO representatives, security forces have been detaining their family members, expelling them from Chechnya, seizing their property, and organising public ‘cursing’ rituals in mosques under threats and violence.

On 7 April, a 16-year-old boy attacked traffic police officers with a knife in Achkoi-Martan. One officer was killed, and the attacker was shot dead at the scene.

According to the Russian independent media outlet Caucasian Knot, the motive behind the attack was a personal conflict with one of the police officers. However, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov claimed the attack was orchestrated by a ‘Ukrainian citizen’ and individuals located in Turkey, possibly referring to NIYSO activists.

Following the incident, security forces began detaining and expelling the relatives of the activists. NISYO administrator Said-Ali Abubekirov reported that his father, two brothers, and a nephew were detained. The nephew was later released, but the brothers were beaten.

‘The relatives were expelled from the republic — they were taken to Ingushetia, dropped off, and told to go wherever they wanted,’ Abubekirov told Caucasian Knot.

In addition to detentions, Chechen authorities began systematically confiscating the property of relatives of NIYSO members. According to Abubekirov, houses and cars registered to his relatives were seized, as well as property connected to other activists. In one case, there was even an attempt to seize a house that had already been sold but not yet legally transferred.

Security forces also reportedly organised ‘cursing rituals’ — public events held in mosques where relatives of the activists were forced to curse their own kin. One such incident took place on Friday in the village of Gikalo, when relatives of the activists were brought to the local mosque, with other villagers also summoned. Eyewitnesses said the event provoked indignation among some locals, but no one dared to protest.

NIYSO members described this as an act of intimidation not only against them, but also against all potential informants.

Meanwhile, in Novosibirsk, a police bulletin was issued for one of the alleged authors of NIYSO — 39-year-old Chechen native Zelimkhan Mustafinov. He and another individual were declared wanted on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. The bulletin claimed a terrorist attack might occur at one of the city’s shopping centres, possibly at the Continent shopping mall. However, the administration of the Сontinent mall later denied any real threat, stating that the information was shared ‘solely to raise awareness’.

According to NIYSO, Mustafinov has been living abroad since 2020.

‘They published bulletins on Zelimkhan, who has been abroad for four years, and another man we don’t even know’, a NIYSO representative wrote on Telegram.

The representative claimed the bulletins and the repression in Chechnya point to a premeditated campaign against NIYSO, using the teenager’s attack in Achkoi-Martan as a pretext.

NIYSO activists have denied having any connection with the teenager, claiming that the movement has never called for violence.

‘We have never encouraged such actions — on the contrary, we have always urged young people to show restraint’, Abubekirov said.

‘They know that for Chechens, pressure through family is the most painful. That’s what they’re exploiting. They’ve brought collective punishment into our society — a practice from the Middle Ages and the Stalinist era’, he added.

OC Media also wrote on Friday that the father of a teenager who attacked a traffic police post was allegedly forcibly taken to Chechnya from Moscow. He was badly beaten and his limbs were broken.

Father of teen who attacked police post in Chechnya abducted in Moscow and taken to Chechnya

According to unverified reports, the father had his arms, legs, and ribs broken.

OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova