Appeals on behalf of Bakaev and IS* continue trend of information injections

A video appeal of the Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev and a video clip on behalf of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, are intended to mislead the society, the rights defenders Tatiana Lokshina and Svetlana Gannushkina are convinced a year after the singer's disappearance.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that August 8 marked a year since the disappearance of Zelimkhan Bakaev, who came from Moscow to Grozny for his sister's wedding party and disappeared.

Both the video appeal on behalf of Bakaev, and the video clip with IS* threats are fakes, Tatiana Lokshina, the head of the Moscow Bureau of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), is convinced. "Like all other fake videos, these ones are intended to mislead the public opinion," Ms Lokshina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civil Assistance Committee, shares the same opinion.

The video with Bakaev was made by its authors in order to "whitewash themselves," Ms Gannushkina has suggested. "When a person is in hands of unknown people, a fake video is made to whitewash themselves and show that the singer is alive," she has added, reminding that Ramzan Kadyrov's words about the role of relatives in disappearance of Bakaev are an actual recognition of the fact that the authorities are aware of the singer's fate.

* "Islamic State" (IS, earlier – ISIL) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2018 at 04:11 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.