Khasan Khalitov

Affiliated media: Telegram channel KHASAN_KHALITOV, Блогер

Incident date: December 24, 2021

Attack type:

• Pressure on a media worker via physical pressure on relatives and loved ones

Who attacked: Unknown sources

Source: OVD-Info

Location: Russia, Chechen Republic, Chechen Republic

Additional information:

Relatives of opposition blogger Khasan Khalitov have been kidnapped in Chechnya. The blogger reported that law enforcers kidnapped his father, brothers and uncle, as well as several distant relatives. The blogger links the kidnappings to the fact that he regularly criticises Ramzan Kadyrov. Radio Svoboda specifies that Khalitov’s family has already been pressurised by law enforcers before. In particular, the blogger’s relatives were forced to «humiliate and berate» him publicly under video recording. In addition, in one of the telephone conversations, Khalitov’s brother told him that the family was threatened with physical violence if the blogger «did not calm down».