German chancellor Angela Merkel may have saved the lives of gay men in Chechnya after Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to have followed through on her request for him to intervene in a murderous anti-gay campaign there. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov In recent weeks a storm of reports have emerged from the Russian Republic of Chechnya alleging arrests and torture of men suspected of being gay. The president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov stunned international observers when he denied the arrests and torture had occurred, saying there are no homosexuals in Chechnya. People protesting the arrests of gay men have themselves been arrested. Merkel called on Putin to act and he has apparently asked Russia's Human Rights Ombudsman and the Interior Minister to investigate. However, the outcome of his request is far from certain as under Putin's iron-fisted rule of Russia gay people have been increasingly been vilified and anti-gay sentiment whipped up by political and religious leaders apparently with his blessing.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 7th May 2017 - 7:53pm