“He is alive and cheerful”: Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who disappeared in December, got in touch
Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen opposition blogger and critic of Ramzan Kadyrov, whose disappearance and murder was reported by the media and several Telegram channels in December 2022, got in touch with human rights activists.
This is reported by Novaya Gazeta Europe with reference to the Chechen human rights association VAYFOND, which operates in Sweden.
According to representatives of the organization, they do not know where exactly the activist is now and they have no information about the circumstances of his disappearance. A spokesman for the association, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said that Abdurakhmanov called human rights activists “to clarify some legal points and allowed them to announce that he was alive.”
“We assume that he himself can hardly comment on something now because of secrecy. He is alive and cheerful. Soon everyone will see him, I think he himself will get in touch with everyone, ”the source said.
The disappearance of Abdurakhmanov became known at the end of 2022 – the blogger stopped contacting human rights activists and journalists. On December 3, the telegram channel “Ichkeria: Heroes, Enemies and Traitors” published a message about the murder of Abdurakhmanov. At the same time, the authors of the publication noted that the sources of this information are “unofficial and of a low level of trust.”
Later, a video was posted on the pro-Russian channel Kavkaz Front, in which a Chechen was allegedly hospitalized with bullet wounds. On the night of December 3, the Russian military telegram channel Rybar reported without citing sources that “apparently, the activist was indeed killed.”
Vayfond then stated that they did not have any information about the death of Abdurakhmanov, but noted that the representative of the organization, Mohmad Abdurakhmanov, who is the blogger’s brother, “also unexpectedly and without explanation is no longer available through all contacts.”
The press secretary of the European Chechen Assembly Shamil Albakov, in turn, said that it could be about the murder of a man who lived next door to the activist. At that time, there was no information about the murder of Abdurakhmanov in the reports of law enforcement agencies in Sweden and local media.
On December 5, the Chechen opposition Telegram channel 1ADAT*, citing a “network of informers from Europe and Chechnya” and Radio Liberty**, wrote that the blogger was allegedly shot in Sweden by a group of people on the night of December 1-2. On the same day, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that the local police had not confirmed the information about the murder or disappearance of Abdurakhmanov.
Four days later, Kavkaz.Realii** published a commentary by the press service of the so-called government of the self-proclaimed “Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” abroad, which stated that the activist was alive and under the protection of the Swedish police. At the same time, the reasons why the Swedish police allegedly keep the blogger under protection were not named.
Tumso Abdurakhmanov is known for criticizing the Chechen authorities, he is a supporter of independent Ichkeria. In his YouTube videos, he talked about human rights violations and abuses by officials in Chechnya. In 2015 he left Russia. He claimed that this was due to a conflict with Ramzan Kadyrov’s nephew Islam. In 2021, Abdurakhmanov received political asylum in Sweden.
In December 2021, Abdurakhmanov reported that Chechen security forces had kidnapped several members of his family. Kadyrov said that these were rumors spread by European bloggers “supporting terrorism.”
* the Adat movement is recognized in Russia as an “extremist organization”, its activities are not banned
** the publication is included by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the register of foreign agents