12:44, 18 September 2017

Chechen MIA finds no reason to initiate case on singer Zelimkhan Bakaev's disappearance

Singer Zelimkhan Bakaev. Photo https://www.kavkazr.com/a/mat-bakaeva-prosit-pomosch-kadyrova/28739015.html

Singer Zelimkhan Bakaev left the Chechen Republic, and no one pursued him. There is no reason to institute a criminal case, reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Chechnya. The Zelimkhan Bakaev's mother appealed to the leader of Chechnya with a request to help her in search of her son.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported Zelimkhan Bakaev, a 26-year-old native of Grozny, disappeared on August 8. Friends of the singer have suggested he could be kidnapped.

According to an official from the Chechen MIA, the singer left for Nalchik, and from there he travelled to Moscow by train.

On September 16, the mother of Zelimkhan Bakaev appealed through WhatsApp to the Chechen leader with a request to help her find her son. There has been no reaction to the appeal yet, the Zelimkhan Bakaev's relatives report.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that appeals of Chechen residents to Ramzan Kadyrov did not always produce the desired result. In December 2015, Aishat Inaeva used WhatsApp to complain about the difficult situation of Chechen residents and criticized the ways of collecting debts for housing and communal services. However, she was subsequently forced to publicly repent in front of the Chechen leader.

Meanwhile, close relatives and friends of Zelimkhan Bakaev have expressed their fears for his life. The singer did not enter any serious conflicts with anyone, one of his friends noted.

On August 31, rights defenders and activists from Russia, the United States, and Europe held an action under hashtag #BringBakaevBack with a request to find out the singer's whereabouts.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Source: CK correspondents