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The flag of the LGBT movement brandished on May 6, 2017 during a demonstration in Moscow (Illustration). Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

This is a new wave of persecution that has hit homosexuals in Chechnya, according to information from a Russian NGO. According to new testimonies collected by the newspaper Novaya Gazeta , at least two people were killed and about forty others arrested. Information denied by the Chechen authorities, but which worries the international organizations defending human rights.

From our correspondent in Moscow , Daniel Vallot

It is at the end of December that this new wave of arrests has begun, according to the information of the Russian LGBT network. The association, which defends the rights of homosexuals in Russia, scores dozens of people arrested because of their sexual orientation.

" The tortures are even harder ... "

Igor Kotchekov is the director of the network: " The arrested people are men and women, we know that there are at least two girls. The torture is even harder than in 2017: before it was electric shocks, blows of sticks, but now it is even more violent. These arrests correspond to the political line of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader who has publicly said that the Chechen blood of gays and lesbians must be cleansed ... "

For their part, the Chechen authorities have formally denied the accusations of the NGO. " This is a pure lie, " said a spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov.

Last December, however, an OSCE report confirmed the existence of a campaign of persecution against homosexuals in Chechnya. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe had raised cases of torture , arbitrary arrests and executions.