Two brothers who fled Chechnya’s anti-LGBTQ crackdown have been sentenced to several years in prison.
The Crisis Group “North Caucasus SOS” that represents Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev in a press release notes a court in Achknoy-Martan, a locality in Chechnya’s Achkhoy-Martanovsky District, on Feb. 22 sentenced the brothers after it found them guilty of “complicity with illegal armed formations by providing products” to a Chechen militant. The court sentenced Magamadov to eight years in prison, while Isaev received a 6-year jail sentence.
Chechen authorities in April 2020 arrested Magamadov and Isaev after they made a series of posts on a Telegram channel used by opponents of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Reports indicate Chechen authorities forced the brothers to make “apology videos” after they were tortured.
The Russian LGBT Network helped Magamadov and Isaev flee Chechnya after their release. Police in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod on Feb. 4, 2021, arrested the brothers and transferred them to the custody of Chechen authorities.
Magamadov and Isaev began a hunger strike late last year after a judge denied their request for another court to hear their case.
“Today’s verdict of the Chechen court is a crime against common sense,” said the Crisis Group “North Caucasus SOS” in their press release. “Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev are innocent. Their case is completely fabricated.”
The court sentenced Magamadov and Isaev on the same day the U.S. sanctioned Russia over its decision to begin its invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. in 2017 sanctioned Kadyrov under the Magnitsky Act, which freezes the assets of Russian citizens who commit human rights abuses and bans them from entering the U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price has previously said the U.S. is “profoundly concerned” over Magamadov and Isaev’s case.
“The United States is deeply concerned about ongoing reports of abuses against LGBTQI+ persons, critics of Ramzan Kadyrov’s regime, and others in Chechnya,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “We have spoken out often to condemn the deplorable and deteriorating human rights situation there and have promoted accountability by designating Kadyrov and other Chechen government officials under relevant human rights-related sanctions and visa restriction authorities.”
“The United States will continue to highlight these problems in the OSCE (Organizaton for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and elsewhere as well as maintain our engagement with Russia and international civil society organizations responding to the situation in Chechnya,” added the spokesperson.
