Russian police have questioned the parents of an exiled Circassian activist from Kabarda–Balkaria.

On 6 August, RFE/RL reported that police visited the home of Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko’s parents. 

Kochesoko is the head of the Circassian organisation Khabze, and is currently based in Turkey.

‘According to them, they came formally to look around and ask questions, that they are obliged to do this, that this is an order from above’, Kochesoko told OC Media.

While Kochesoko stated that his parents were not harassed or abused by the police, this was the third visit the authorities have conducted to his parents’ house in a month and a half, despite them knowing that he was outside of Russia.

‘The fact that initially, knowing that I am not there, they come and disturb my parents so many times — this is psychological pressure that is provided for by the system and this is all done deliberately’, he said.

Kochesoko was designated a foreign agent by Russian authorities in August 2023 for his ‘dissemination of messages and materials of foreign agents to an unlimited number of people’. The authorities also cited his speeches and calls for actions that ‘may lead to a violation of the territorial integrity of Russia’.

He was charged for not using the foreign agent label on his publications in June 2024. 

‘I believe that people should know about what is happening, everything should be transparent. In principle, I have always conducted all my activities openly within the legal framework’, he told OC Media

Kochesoko is the second exiled Circassian activist to report that their parents were harassed in their absence from the North Caucasus. 

On 19 July, the police in Karachay–Cherkessia interrogated the parents of exiled Circassian activist Kase Kik, reportedly confiscating their phones.

Kik, a Circassian independence activist currently based in the US, is the founder of the Circassian Congress and a member of the Council of United Circassia, both organisations banned as ‘extremist’ by Russia in July.

[Read more: Russia bans North Caucasian national movements]