Tumso rejects Kadyrov people's ultimatum

Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a blogger, has refused to stop criticizing Chechen authorities, despite repression threats against his kidnapped relatives.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 22, the oppositional blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, reported about the kidnapping of his paternal and maternal relatives living in Chechnya. He has linked the kidnappings with his brother's criticism of Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament. Tumso has posted a screenshot of a message with a threat to kill his relatives should he fail to post, within 24 hours, a video with apologizes to Kadyrov.

During the evening live broadcast on his YouTube channel, Tumso Abdurakhmanov stated that he knew nothing about his relatives' whereabouts. Tumso drew attention to the fact that not only his relatives had been kidnapped, but also those of other Chechen critics of the authorities.

The blogger said that he had gradually learned about the kidnapping of various distant relatives. One of the maternal relatives, according to Tumso, was beaten up; and his mother – the blogger's aunt – had also received blows.

Tumso possesses no information about the whereabouts and fate of his kidnapped relatives. According to his version, some of those kidnapped have a very indirect kinship with him; and some of them he doesn't even know.

Tumso has stressed that he would not give in to pressure from Chechen authorities and fulfil their demands. "I assure you that it will not work with me – you are trying in vain," he has stated recalling that previous attempts to put pressure on him had also failed. The blogger has promised to all the users who had offered him to "give up for the sake of his relatives," to block them on his channel.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 23, 2021 at 11:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.