20 years after the war
Moscow continues to chase Chechnya in Europe
A Chechen walks along the Danube Canal in an atmosphere of fear of persecution.
AFP
Chechen activist Rosa Dunayeva asserts that the president of Chechnya is involved in committing murders against Chechens abroad on behalf of Russia.
AFP
A Chechen man covers his face during an interview with Agence France-Presse, fearing that he will be identified.
AFP
picture
More than two decades ago, Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, faced the same fate as the devastated Ukrainian Mariupol as a result of Russian bombing.. Even today, Chechen refugees in Europe still live in fear of Moscow.
Tens of thousands of Chechens have fled the small, Muslim-majority Russian republic devastated by two bloody wars, and the second war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 1999 brought to power Ramzan Kadyrov, a Kremlin loyalist accused of ruthlessly suppressing his critics.
Austria, with a population of nine million, hosts about 35,000 Chechens, the largest community in proportion to the population, out of the 250,000 in Europe.
In Vienna, the Chechens live in a popular neighborhood in the north-east of the city with post-war buildings in which men often work as security guards and women raise children.
But behind the appearance of normal life in the streets where there are modest pizzerias and a variety of shops, dozens of refugees told AFP their fears.
Some fear that he will be returned to Russia overnight, with the risk of being tortured or killed, according to human rights organizations, while the handover of a number of refugees has accelerated under the pretext of fighting terrorism since the attacks carried out by Chechen extremists in the European Union.
Others are worried about becoming a target of Kadyrovtsy's forces, Ramzan Kadyrov's men, whom NGOs accuse of relentlessly hunting down the president's opponents, both at home and abroad.
risk of deportation
Zurbek Nazoyev, a Chechen exile in Austria for 18 years, during the First Chechen War (1994-1996) joined the "Boiviki", the Chechen fighters who faced the Russian federal forces. Austria with his children... until he received a letter from the Austrian Public Prosecutor's Office informing him that he was accused of murder and terrorism.
According to the document seen by Agence France-Presse, he is accused of participating in the massacres committed against Russian civilians in 1995.
But this 50-year-old man, speaking under a pseudonym, denies that he "killed innocents", and says that he "was defending himself against the Russian occupier."
The man, who wonders whether this desire to be prosecuted is linked to the presence of an extremist in his family who went to fight for ISIS in Syria, faces the threat of deportation.
The Austrian authorities in charge of the case refused to comment after several requests from AFP, and it was not possible to speak to secretive judicial and police sources on this sensitive subject.
charter flights
In 2006, the European Union concluded an agreement with the Russian government to take back people convicted or prosecuted under an INTERPOL Red Notice at the request of Moscow.
Since then, hundreds of Chechens have been deported, and there are no official statistics about their number, which international organizations regularly complain about.
In a 2017 report, the Council of Europe denounced the "abuse of the Interpol system" by certain countries "to persecute political opponents abroad".
With the entrenchment of the concept of risk prevention in the West, European Union countries have tightened their policies for fear of attacks, according to the Chechen community.
After a Chechen refugee killed teacher Samuel Baty in France in October 2020, Austria established an intervention force to combat "extremist tendencies" and "parallel societies" among the Chechen community.
A month later, Austria experienced its first terrorist act on its soil, even though it was accused of being lax in monitoring extremists.
Since then, the state has decided to double down on vigilance and surveillance.
In December 2021, the country organized a charter flight carrying 10 people to Russia in a move to show "effective cooperation on repatriation".
In response to a question by Agence France-Presse, the government confirmed that "four Russian citizens are currently in detention and their deportation is being considered."
Despite the suspension of commercial relations with Russia due to sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, deportations are still taking place, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry.
Torture in Grozny
"I'd rather kill myself here than go back," said Zurbek Nazoyev, who was tortured with electricity during the crackdown in Chechnya.
If convicted, Nazoyev faces the possibility of having his refugee status revoked and extradited to his country.
Moscow promises good treatment to the European authorities and the Chechen exiles who will be returned to Russia.
Despite this, a number of them disappeared, were tortured, convicted on charges that NGOs considered "fabricated", or were killed upon their return.
On the 4th of April, the Russian "Memorial" organization criticized France for ignoring the pleas of the young Daoud Muradov, born in 2002, who was deported in December 2020 amid fears for state security.
At the end of 2021, he was transferred to a prison in Grozny where he was tortured, according to the NGO recently dissolved by Moscow.
The organization said his relatives were informed of his death in February.
They did not obtain the results of the forensic examination, nor were they able to recover his body.
Fear of commandos
On the other hand, other Chechens fear Kadyrov's commandos, who are accused of liquidating his opponents everywhere.
The Austrian judiciary referred to the role of the Chechen leader, who has held power in the Caucasus lands since 2007, in the assassination of an opponent who publicly testified about human rights violations in his country, in Vienna in January 2009.
Days before his murder, Umar Israilov, a father of four, asked in vain for police protection after noticing that he was being followed in the street.
Judgment on Russia's working style lit up.
As for the prosecution, it was Ramzan Kadyrov who gave the orders.
According to the victim's widow, the Chechen leader called her husband twice before he was killed, asking him to return immediately to the country.
Chechen activist Rosa Dunayeva confirms that other murders attributed to "Kadyrovtsy" occurred in Istanbul in September 2011, in Lille (France) in January 2020 and in Vienna again in July 2020.
No accusation was brought against Kadyrov.
Requests for judicial cooperation with Russia remained unanswered.
Suspended life in Europe
"In the media, they always associate us with criminality and religious extremism only, while the majority of Chechens who live in a state of fear and anxiety have become far from politics," Dunayeva said on the sidelines of one of the demonstrations she is organizing to condemn the deportations.
There are many examples of successful integration in Austria such as judoka Shamil Burchashvili, 26, who won the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a bronze Olympic medal, and Zelimkhan Kazan, 19, who was born in Austria and has never visited Chechnya and is continuing his studies in computer science. .
"I'm working and I have everything I need, but I don't feel 100% safe," he said.
Zelimkhan Kazan, who does not hold Russian official papers and only has an Austrian laissez-passer, cannot be naturalized unless he is related to a citizen of Austria.
All of the Chechen refugees interviewed by AFP said they had been targeted by the police, and that the slightest disposition towards a government official could lead to their conviction and deportation.
In July 2021, policemen were convicted after CCTV videos spread showing them beating a Chechen without knowing that someone was filming.
Zelimkhan Kazan is also afraid of Kadyrovsky's men, who can be recognized especially by their large cars.
When he spots them, he tries to hide his features by lowering his hat.
Rosa Dunayeva expressed concern about Ramzan Kadyrov's increasing control over young people born in the European Union.
"When he doesn't kill them, he brainwashes them and incites them against us or the West," she said.
Chechnya also talks about cocaine “deals” that destroy the lives of many young people deprived of a future and trapped in a mafia-controlled system, while young girls born in Europe complain that “big siblings” hinder their freedoms.
Many fall into the trap of Ramzan Kadyrov, who succeeds in seducing them through social networking sites, where he has millions of followers, and sows division in families.
Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, "a thousand volunteers" sent by Ramzan Kadyrov have been fighting alongside the Russians.
On the other hand, some went to extend a helping hand to the Ukrainians, according to several sources interviewed by AFP.
Among the millions of refugees who fled the bombing in Ukraine is a young Chechen woman who came with her son and was arrested in Romania, according to the judiciary, which decided to extradite her to Russia, after accusing her of “participating in an armed group for the purposes of harming the Russian Federation.”
• Austria, with a population of nine million, hosts about 35,000 Chechens, the largest community in proportion to the population, out of the 250,000 who are in Europe.
• In 2006, the European Union concluded an agreement with the Russian government to return persons convicted or prosecuted under an Interpol Red Notice at the request of Moscow.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news