Missing writers reappear at Chechen leader Kadyrov's compound

Two Chechen writers, Rizvan Ibragimov and Abubakar Didiev, were allegedly arrested by security forces on April 1. The writers have resurfaced at a meeting with other Chechen scholars and writers at the official residence of Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic.

Kadyrov had written on his Instagram account that the two missing writers were there to receive some criticism from the other guests. The two writers are publishing “thousands of prints of a book, which seeks to bad mouth religion and cause inter-ethnic strife,” wrote Kadyrov.

Apparently, the two writers “apologized to the scientific community and the clergy of Chechnya.”

Newspaper Caucasian Knot wrote about the two writers' disappearance on April 5.

Rizvan Ibragimov wrote on his website that he was not kidnapped, but “spent the last 4 days at a police station… because they were afraid I might run away.” “They did not use coercive measures against us,” he added.

The two writers' disappearances come shortly after the singer Hussein Betelgeriev went missing on March 31. Betelgeriev has yet to be found. Chechnya's Attorney General demanded an increase in search efforts for the singer on April 4.