Ibragim Selimkhanov

Ibragim fled Chechnya to escape his family, who had threatened to kill him because of his homosexuality. In the spring of 2021, Chechen security forces kidnapped him in Moscow and brought him back to Chechnya. At the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was interrogated in detail as they tried to gather information about human rights activists helping LGBTQ+ individuals in the North Caucasus.

After the interrogation, Ibragim was handed over to his relatives. They deprived him of any means of communication, but he eventually managed to escape.

Ibragim filed a complaint about the kidnapping, but a criminal case was not initiated, even after numerous appeals to the Investigative Committee over the police’s inaction. In September 2022, the prosecutor’s office overturned the Investigative Committee’s decision to refuse to open a criminal case and ordered a review.

We are currently providing Ibragim with legal support.