Chechen fundies threaten Russian paper reporting gay hate crimes with ‘punishment’


Russia’s newspaper Novaya Gazeta (NG) is urging the leadership of the Russian Federation to respond to the calls for violence against its journalists.

According to the editorial board, such calls were made at a meeting of Islamic scholars and opinion leaders held on April 3 in Chechnya.

Thousands of Chechens gathered in the central mosque of Grozny to express their outrage over the Novaya Gazeta publication about the persecution of gay men in the country. According to Grozny-Inform, around 15,000 people took part in the meeting.

Snapshot by Grozny TV: Adam Shakhidov, an aide of Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov, at the meeting

The Novaya Gazeta reported that in February-March about 100 Chechen men were detained on suspicion of being homosexual. To make them betray the names of others, Chechen special services tortured the detainees; more than three people were killed, the Novaya Gazeta states with reference to own sources.

The participants adopted a resolution saying NG had touched their the moral foundation of Chechen society, insulted the dignity of Chechen men and their faith.

“We promise that the instigators wherever and whoever they are will be punished – without limitation as to time,” the resolution says.

“The resolution incites religious fanatics to violence against journalists,” the editorial board of The Novaya Gazeta warns.

The journalists are calling on the Russian authorities to give a legal assessment of the resolution and do everything possible to stop the ‘actions aimed at inciting hatred and hostility towards journalists who perform their professional duties’.

belsat.eu

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