Chechen Lawyer And Human Rights Defender Mahmut Magomad Abducted

On 20th January, Chechen lawyer and human rights defender Mahmut Magomad was abducted by a group of camouflaged gunmen in front of his wife and children At the time of his abduction, Mr. Magomad was working on over 30 human rights cases, mainly concerning 'disappearances', torture and ill-treatment, and extra-judicial executions committed by Russian security forces. Mr. Magomad had been working to compile applications from the victims of human rights abuses for submission to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Front Line fears that he may have been targeted as a means to silence him and prevent him from carrying out his human rights work in Chechnya. According to the information received, on 20th January, Mr. Magomad was travelling by car with his wife and two children to a friend’s house when his wife realised that their car was being followed (by a car with registration plate number BAZ 2110). Mr. Magomad entered his friend's house and his family remained in the car. The car was then reportedly surrounded by four cars – one of which had followed Mr. Magomad's car earlier, a white car of registration BAZ 2107, another white car of registration GAZ31029, and a cherry coloured car of BAZ 21099. A number of armed men in camouflage uniform stepped out and allegedly brought Mr. Magomad out from the house. Mr. Magomad’s four-year-old daughter was reportedly dragged along the ground during the incident and upon protesting, his wife, holding their six-month-old son, was pushed to the ground. Mr. Magomad was forcibly taken by the armed men, put into car number GAZ31029 and driven in the direction of Grozny.