Missing Chechen singer returns home severely beaten

Chechen poet, writer and musical performer Hussein Betelgeriev, who was reported missing on March 31, has returned home having been severely beaten, reports online news agency Caucasian Knot via the NGO International Crisis Group.

It is unknown where Betelgeriev was held hostage for the past two weeks.

On March 31, two unidentified men in black uniforms took the singer away from his home.

Friends and relatives of the singer believe his abduction was connected first to comments he made on social network sites, and second because he ignored an invite to attend a pro-government rally on the anniversary of the Chechen Constitution.

Betelgeriev's wife says police did not make any efforts to search for her husband.

The return of the clearly tortured Betelgeriev follows the sudden reappearance of two missing Chechen writers, Rizvan Ibragimov and Abubakar Didiev, at a meeting at the official residence of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account the two missing writers were there to receive criticism on books they had published.