The Dalarnas Tidningar, a Swedish newspaper, published news related to two Chechen asylum seekers who are under the threat of extradition from Sweden to Russia.

Ruslan Ayndievich Dzhamaev and his mother, Manash Khalitovna Akhmadova arrived in Sweden from Chechnya 3 and a half years ago. Now they can be expelled because the immigration office has refused their asylum applications and they have not accepted requests to go back voluntarily.

Earlier we had published the story of Ruslan, who is a former member of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Armed Forces. Thus, he is afraid of to go back Chechnya because he knows that Russian intelligence services and their local collaborators are hunting the people who were involved in the Chechen struggle for freedom.

“If it was really safe there, of course we would go back,” said his mother. She also believes that it is not only dangerous for Ruslan, but also for herself. “They will hurt me to get information about my son’s whereabouts,” she said.

Ruslan and his mother had some questions about the asylum process and it seems that they are right. “When we came here, they did not provide us with a Chechen language interpreter but instead, our interpreter was Russian. Even the lawyer who was provided to us, did not know anything about Chechnya and the situation there,” said Mrs. Akhmadova.

“I totally agree with Ruslan that going back to Chechnya would be very dangerous for him. In 2008, he was called a few times by the Russian FSB. I do not even want to think about what would be happen if they got him. He is at great risk of being kidnapped,” said Johan Lagerfelt, the chairman of the Swedish Chechen Committee (Svenska Tjetjenienkommittén).

Mr. Lagerfelt said that the Council of European Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) commented on the situation in Chechnya, in a report this summer. It was explained that there are disappearances, torture and a “climate of fear”.

Johan Lagerfelt is also accusing the Immigration Service of committing several serious mistakes.

“They have withheld and distorted the facts, mistranslated some Russian documents and arbitrarily failed to translate others. It is unfortunate that the Immigration Service makes use of Russian rather than Chechen interpreters, because the Chechens often have little confidence in them. Some are worried that the Russians might talk to the embassy and FSB and inform them about where they are. Immigration Service seems to deliberately want to reject the Chechens because of lucrative oil and gas contracts,” said Mr. Lagerfelt.

*Text was translated by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco