About 30 people took part in a rally in front of the Bosnia and Herzegovina embassy in Vienna. People spoke out against the extradition of Chechen native Selima Khadisova to Russia. If this happens, she will face torture, serious violations of her rights and even death, human rights activists believe.
The participants stood with the flags of Ichkeria and Ukraine, as well as with posters "Stop deportation", "Freedom for Selima", "Stop persecution of Chechens by Russia". Following the action, a resolution was submitted to the embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the end of September, Chechen Selima Khadisova was detained at the airport in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) along with her three minor children. She had been living in Turkey for several years, and, according to available information, there were no grounds for her arrest. Khadisova's children are in a migration center, and she herself remains in custody at the request of Russia, which accuses her of involvement in terrorist activities.
According to Russian investigators, Selima Khadisova left the country in 2015 and went to Syria, where she allegedly underwent training in a militant camp. However, Khadisova calls all these accusations fabricated. According to her, relatives of her ex-husband, who are closely connected with the Chechen authorities, declared her a terrorist after she left Russia.
In January of this year, the human rights organization Amnesty International called on EU countries not to extradite refugees from the North Caucasus to Russia. The text of the published document states that the authorities of European countries should immediately stop deporting refugees and asylum seekers from the North Caucasus Federal District to the Russian Federation, since they risk torture and forced incorporation into the Russian army to participate in the war against Ukraine in their homeland.
Human rights activists emphasized that in recent years the situation of people who left the North Caucasus has significantly worsened due to the decline in legal standards in Russia. In particular, they are threatened with unjustified detentions and forced disappearances. When they arrive in European countries, they are perceived as potentially dangerous due to their religious and ethnic background and are therefore candidates for extradition.
In January, a rally was held in front of a deportation prison in Austria in defense of the rights of refugees serving their sentences in the country. The reason for the protest was the death of a young Chechen in one of the Austrian prisons.
