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Salek Magamadov and Ismail Isayev have been detained on terrorism charges in Chechnya, but activists say it s because they are gay. (Russian LGBT Network)
Chechnya has offered state protection to two gay men at risk of honour killings by their families after the state forcefully returned them home.
Salek Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, who has just turned 18, fled to Russia in June, 2020, with the help of the Russian LGBT Network, after they were tortured in Chechnya, the site of deadly so-called gay purges, for running an opposition Telegram channel.
They were relocated by the group to an apartment in the Russian city of Nizhny Novogorod near Moscow, but were forcefully returned to their hometown of Gudermes, Chechnya, in February, 2021, by both Russian and Chechen police.
Gay men held on terror charges in Chechnya without a shred of proof pinknews.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pinknews.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.