Local sources have reported that Austria has extradited more than 10 Chechen asylum seekers, including a former resistance fighter, to Russia.

According to the information, on February 21, more than 10 Chechen asylum seekers boarded a charter flight in Vienna and were sent directly to Moscow, Russia. Among the extradited Chechens, was a former resistance fighter, Timerlan Tamayev, whose situation we had reported earlier.

“We are deceived here. We were forced to sign some papers and it was said that these were ordinary papers. However, it turned out that we had signed a paper consenting to extradition, which is actually a death sentence. I am pretty sure that I will be immediately arrested when we arrive in order to get some information about the resistance in Chechnya,” said Timerlan, while waiting to board the charter flight.

Members of Austria’s Green Party expressed their concerns about the extradition and repeated the danger which awaits the asylum seekers in Russia. However, they could not change the decision.

Recall that on November 28, 2012, thirteen Chechen asylum seekers had been extradited from Austria to Russia. After their arrival, two of the asylum seekers were abducted and kept in a prison in the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Their fates are still unknown.

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