Chechnya officials blame gay people’s ‘sick imagination’ for purge reports

Russian LGBT+ campaigners say that authorities in Chechnya have pressured families to execute their gay relatives.

The autonomous region of Russia, which is ruled by anti-LGBT leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has twice in two years been accused of carrying out homophobic purges.

The Russian LGBT Network warned of a new wave of persecution on January 14, alleging in a statement that around 40 people have been detained and two have been killed since December 2018.

Authorities in Chechnya have persistently denied the claims, but the LGBT+ activists have received a flood of calls from the region, as gay people and their families seek help.

One Russian LGBT Network campaigner, who did not wish to be named, told the Daily Beast that in some cases, Chechen authorities “demanded that relatives punish their gay family members by executing them.”

They explained: “We have heard dozens of stories from Chechens who we helped about local government officials ordering relatives to execute their family members… these so-called ‘murders of dignity’ are popular in Chechnya.”

The allegation has been denied by the authorities in Chechnya, who have persistently denied all knowledge of the purge and the existence of gay people in the region.

Dzhambulat Umarov, the Chechen Minister of National Policy, told the outlet: “Considering the fact that they (gay people) have sick imagination to start from, I am not surprised that they can write nonsense like that.”

Chechnya leader: Gays are ‘not people’

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has publicly insisted that homosexuals are “not people” and should be removed to “purify” the blood of the region.

Meanwhile, the Russian government claimed in 2018 that it was unable to verify the existence of any gay people in Chechnya.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (Instagram)