German court to consider lawsuit of human rights defenders against Ramzan Kadyrov's entourage

According to The Guardian , referring to the text of the statement, the Chechen authorities and military are accused of persecution, illegal arrests, torture, sexual violence and coercion to kill at least 150 people in connection with their sexual orientation.

The lawsuit was filed back in February, and it includes the deputy chairman of the Chechen government Abuzaid Vismuradov, the head of the Argun police force Ayub Kataev, who is currently under EU sanctions, and the chairman of the republic’s parliament, Magomed Daudov.

Earlier, human rights activists filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the prosecution of gays in Chechnya, but in 2016 the Russian Federation withdrew from its jurisdiction.

According to the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is possible to prosecute for crimes against humanity regardless of where they were committed.

“Given the imperfect international criminal justice system and the limited jurisdiction of the ICC, Germany is trying to ensure that Europe is not a safe haven for war criminals,” ECCHR founder Wolfgang Kaleck commented on the decisions of the German courts.

Recall that in March both Kataev and Vismuradov fell under EU sanctions for "persecuting LGBT representatives in Chechnya."

We also remind that in February the Chechens Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev, who were forcibly taken from Nizhny Novgorod to Chechnya, were again detained and taken to the OVD in the Sernovodsky district of the republic to be interrogated as witnesses in one of the cases.

In April 2020, Chechens were already detained due to the fact that they were moderators of the opposition Chechen Telegram channel. After that, a video of their apology appeared on YouTube, and it was clear on the footage that the young people were beaten. In July 2020, the Russian LGBT Network helped them move to Nizhny Novgorod.