Chechen authorities strain efforts to denigrate Suleiman Gezmakhmaev

The "Grozny" TV Channel has posted new records with relatives and acquaintances of Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, who express their claims against the former law enforcer. Public renunciations from those disliked by Chechen authorities are temporarily protecting their relatives from problems, but for Gezmakhmaev's relatives, the problems are unlikely to end after such public renunciations, human rights defenders believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Suleiman Gezmakhmaev's uncle stated on air of the "Grozny" TV Channel that his nephew had used psychotropic substances and fled Russia, owing large sums of money. Gezmakhmaev invented this story in order to obtain asylum in Europe, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, has stated.

Given the uniqueness of Gezmakhmaev's testimony and the interest of Chechen authorities to achieve his public repentance, the problems of his relatives will not end there, Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender, has suggested.

He has added that in most cases, such appeals helped relatives of critics of Chechen authorities to avoid latter's claims, like it was in the cases of the blogger, Said-Khusein Magomadov, and Tepsurkaev.

Ruslan Kutaev, President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, does not believe that the video message will help relatives remove authorities' claims. "Gezmakhmaev had hardly consulted his relatives when he decided to talk about extrajudicial executions in Chechnya. Therefore, relatives can't be held responsible for his actions," Mr Kutaev has added.