Gay Man Arriving In Russia To Attend Dad's Funeral Detained At Moscow Airport

Authorities in Russia detained a gay expatriate who returned to the country for his father's funeral, according to reports.

Police detained Idris Arsamikov at Moscow's Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, North Caucasus, LGBTQ+ rights organization Crisis Group SK SOS said in a statement posted on Telegram Wednesday.

The 28-year-old native of Chechnya was detained due to "some problems" in his home region, authorities claimed.

Chechen security forces have been sent for Arsamikov, he was told.

Arsamikov reported that border guards took him to the airport's basement, but communication with him has since been cut, according to Crisis Group SK SOS.

Arsamikov was on his way to Chechnya from the Netherlands to visit his father's funeral when he got detained, the gay rights organization claimed.

He fled Chechnya in the past due to persecution from the Kadyrovites, a term used to refer to the followers of incumbent Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Members of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya have faced "brutal prosecution" in the country, according to the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).

Chechnya ranked last place out of 202 countries in the Spartacus International Gay Guide's 2021 Gay Travel Index, a report that measured the legal situation and living conditions for members of the queer community in different countries.

Chechen security forces arrested, imprisoned and tortured more than 150 people from 2017 to 2020, most of whom were either gay or bisexual men, according to the ECCHR.

Anti-gay purges are still carried out in Chechnya.

"The underlying issue is that, according to the government, these men do not correspond to the heterosexual image of masculinity in Chechnya. As a result, they are systematically persecuted," the ECCHR stated on its website.

"Since Russia refuses to investigate these crimes, they remain unpunished," according to the nonprofit.

Arsamikov was reportedly detained for the first time near the Chechen capital of Grozny in the summer of 2018.

He was kept in a basement and tortured because security forces discovered his "intimate relationship" with another man, according to Crisis Group SK SOS, which helped Arsamikov escape and emigrate to the Netherlands.