The French authorities carried out the expulsion, Friday, April 9, of Magomed Gadayev, a Russian national of Chechen origin, against a background of suspicion of connection with radical circles. On the one hand, the Ministry of the Interior assures us that it is a man “Known for its long-standing links with the Islamist movement and international jihad”. On the other hand, he is clearly identified in Russia as an opponent of Ramzan Kadyrov, the implacable leader of Chechnya.
Magomed Gadaïev was notably called as a witness in a case involving the regime’s torture practices in the late 2000s. “It’s a country where he risks his life”, indignant his lawyer, Me Arnaud Toulouse, who refutes the allegations of radicalization.
Mr. Gadayev boarded Friday, around 9:30 am, at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, on a flight to Moscow. On his arrival at midday, the man was detained for several hours by the Russian security services. According to information from World, he was only left free to leave the airport at night, without dispelling the concern of his relatives and human rights defenders, who fear for his safety as long as he is on Russian territory. .
“By expelling Mr. G., the French authorities flagrantly violate the principle of non-refoulement which absolutely prohibits the return of a person to the territory of a State where his life would be threatened”, reacted Amnesty International in a statement. The non-governmental organization, as well as its lawyer, appeal to Emmanuel Macron and ask for his ” repatriation “ in France.
Emergency procedures
Placed at the administrative detention center of Mesnil-Amelot (Seine-et-Marne), Thursday at the end of the day, Mr. Gadaïev was expelled the next morning. During the night, his lawyers tried to increase the number of emergency procedures, including before the European Court of Human Rights.
The situation of Magomed Gadaïev responds to a desire displayed by Paris to intensify the expulsions of Russian nationals from Chechnya. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had said so after the assassination, on October 16, 2020, of the history and geography professor Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), committed by a young refugee from Chechnya. The minister even traveled to Moscow in mid-November 2020 to discuss this subject with his Russian counterparts and allow an acceleration of these expulsions despite the blockages linked to the Covid-19 epidemic.
You have 69.47% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.