‘I am a man, and will soon get married’: Gay Chechen man arrested in Russia records patriotic videos, likely under duress

Idris Arsamikov, a gay Chechen man detained at the Domodedovo Moscow airport after returning to Russia from the Netherlands, has appeared in two home videos likely recorded under duress.

In his two statements posted on social media, Arsamikov criticizes the LGBT activists’ alarm over his arrest, telling those who were concerned about his rights that he is fine, will soon get married in Chechnya, and maybe even go to war in Ukraine “to defend the country’s honor,” like his two brothers. Arsamikov’s mother and uncle also speak in the video, demanding that human rights activists “leave him alone.”

The LGBT crisis group SK SOS has drawn attention to the videos and suspicious inconsistencies that suggest they were recorded under pressure. “The rhetoric, the choice of words, the context, and similar cases from the past all suggest that he was asked to record the video because of the publicity,” write the human rights activists, referring to the media coverage of Arsamikov’s arrest:

To reduce pressure from publicity, the law enforcement probably let Idris go home on the condition of recording the video. These public acts of “repentance” and whitewashing the authorities are common practice in Chechnya.

Arsamikov was detained at the Domodedovo Moscow airport after returning from the Netherlands to attend his father’s funeral in Chechnya. According to SK SOS, in 2017, Chechen authorities arrested him for a homosexual relationship, kept him in a basement, and had him tortured. With the help of the human rights group, Arsamikov successfully applied for asylum in the Netherlands, where he lived since, until his father’s death.