Reports, though difficult to confirm at this point, allege that a popular Eastern European pop singer has been killed during Chechnya's crackdown on homosexuality.

 

Zelimkhan Bakayev, 26, traveled from his home in Moscow to Chechnya in August for his sister's weddings. He never returned home and hasn't been seen since August 8. His social media accounts have all been deactivated.

 

LGBT activists in the area said he was taken into custody by Chechen police because of his sexuality. They claimed he was tortured to death, 

 

"At the end of August, we received confirmation of our earlier presumption that Bakayev was detained by Chechen authorities due to suspicion of homosexuality," explained Igor Kocketkov, founder of the Russian LGBT Network. He added that others in the entertainment industry had been tortured while being asked about Bakayev.

 

A Chechen official did not deny Bakayev was in custody, but claimed he was safe and would be returned soon.

 

However, authorities later claimed he had left the country, and a video of someone looking like Bakayev was posted online. He was in a living room and claimed to be living in Germany.

 

"There is absolutely nothing to do in Grozny or Moscow because there are a lot of assholes," he said. "Here people are absolutely different -- you go out, everyone smiles at you. Absolutely different outlook."

 

Activists quickly determined the video was probably a hoax, as the room was filled with Russian furniture and energy drinks not sold in Germany. 

 

Sadly, the international community, aside from condemning the Chechen gay purge, has done little to help these people out.

 

 

Russian pop star detained in Chechnya as part of ‘gay purge’ [Metro]

 

Gay pop star Zelimkhan Bakaev ‘tortured to death’ in sickening anti-LGBT purge in Russian hellhole Chechnya [The Sun]