Zelimkhan Bakayev

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Queer Rights

Kadyrov blames family for ‘murder of Chechen singer Bakayev’

by OC Media

•4 min read

The Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has hinted that the disappearance of singer Zelimkhan ‘Zelim’ Bakayev was the doing of his own family. Kadyrov made the remarks during a government meeting in Grozny broadcasted by the state-run Grozny TV on 17 January. Rights groups say they suspect Bakayev was detained as part of widespread detentions, torture, and killings of queer men by Chechen authorities in 2017. Speaking in Chechen at a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Internal

Chechnya

Campaign for disappeared Chechen singer Zelim Bakayev draws thousands of supporters

by OC Media

•2 min read

International queer rights group All Out, together with the Russian LGBT Network, have launched an online campaign urging Russian authorities to investigate the disappearance of Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakayev. #JusticeForZelim launched on 8 January — five months after his disappearance. ‘We demand a thorough investigation into Zelim’s disappearance and that justice is delivered to him and all other men persecuted in Chechnya’, the petition reads. The petition has already been signed

Chechnya

Russia ‘not investigating’ Chechen queer persecutions

by OC Media

•5 min read

Russian investigative bodies are not properly investigating the campaign of persecution against queer people in Chechnya, Russian rights activists announced during a press conference on 16 October in Moscow. The activists have been assisting queer Chechens flee the republic. In August, Russia’s Public Defender Tatyana Moskalkova met Maksim Lapunov, who was persecuted by Chechen security forces for being gay. He described how he was taken prisoner by Chechen authorities. Moskalkova passed

Chechnya

EU Commission: disappeared Chechen singer Bakayev not in Europe

by OC Media

•1 min read

The European Commission has confirmed that disappeared Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakayev has not entered Europe, according to Russian rights activists. ‘We received a response from the European Commission. Bakayev did not enter Europe’, a source in a Russian rights group working in the North Caucasus and familiar with this case told OC Media. Activists sent a request to the Commission on 25 September after a video appeared online of Bakayev saying he is in Europe and inviting a man name

Chechnya

‘Staged’ video of missing Chechen singer Bakayev

by OC Media

•2 min read

A video has been posted on YouTube purportedly by missing Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakayev. Relatives and friends of the singer however, have expressed doubts about its veracity. Bakayev disappeared on 8 August in Grozny, where he was attending the wedding of his sister. Activists in the North Caucasus suspect that the Chechen special services are involved. The video shows a man who appears to be Bakayev addressing another man named Islam, and inviting him to join Bakayev in Germany. He c

Chechnya

Mother of disappeared Chechen singer appeals to Kadyrov

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

Malika Bakayeva, mother of the disappeared singer Zelimkhan Bakayev, has recorded an audio message to the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, pleading with him to help in the search of her son. She says that she has long felt irresolute about addressing Kadyrov, hoping that her son would return. She eventually decided that there was no one else she could ask for help except to him. ‘My son has disappeared, and it has been two months already. I filed a complaint with the police to the Leninsk

Zelimkhan ‘Zelim’ Bakayev disappeared in August 2017 in Grozny, which he was visiting from Moscow for his sister’s wedding.

Chechnya

Online campaign for missing Chechen singer Bakayev

by OC Media

•2 min read

Russian human rights activists have launched an online campaign to support the search for Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who disappeared in the Chechen capital Grozny on 8 August. A social media campaign with the hashtag #BringBakaevBack was launched on 31 August and has already gained support, with messages from people from the US, Austria, France, Latvia and the Czech Republic. ‘With the help of the Internet we will bring the attention of the international community to this case. We h