Chechnya denies murdering gay Russian pop star, says his family killed him

by Tim Gibson

Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has spoken publically for the first time about the disappearance of Russian pop star, Zelimkhan Bakaev. Bakaev arrived in the capital city of Grozny for his sister’s wedding on August 8thof last year and was immediately arrested and bundled into a car. That was the last anyone had heard of him until reports emerged months later that he had been murdered by Chechen authorities during their crackdown on LGBT+ people.

Kadyrov spoke to Grozny TV earlier this week, saying that the popstar’s relatives knew he was gay, that they were the ones who murdered him and that they are just blaming the government. “Where is your evidence? Have you heard me say on television that I need to catch him? Or how did the police officers arrest him? The family could not stop him, and then they called home, and the brothers apparently put in for his homosexuality.”

An anonymous insider of the Chechen government later contradicted Kadyrov, saying that the popstar “arrived in Grozny and was picked up by police within three hours, within ten hours he was murdered.”

Human Rights Watch (HRH) has also said “there is little doubt he was targeted because of his sexual orientation,” while continuing to urge international attention on the Russian republic.

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