Chechen President Accused Of Strong-Arming Refugees To Return
Anzor Maskhadov's father, Aslan Maskhadov, was killed by Russian troops in 2005.
March 10, 2009
PRAGUE -- Anzor Maskhadov, son of the late Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, says Chechen authorities are trying to force him and other relatives to return to Chechnya from Norway, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Maskhadov said that his family received several phone calls from people who said they were messengers of Chechnya's Moscow-backed president, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Maskhadov said the callers warned him that if he and his family members did not return to Chechnya from their homes in Norway, they and relatives in Chechnya would be killed.
He speculated that the Kremlin-backed Chechen authorities were trying to use his family's return for propaganda purposes.
President Aslan Maskhadov was killed by Russian troops in March 2005. His family has been living in Norway for several years.