A Yerevan court on Tuesday rejected Russia’s request to extradite Salman Mukayev, a Chechen man seeking political asylum in Armenia.

Mukayev was arrested in Grozny by Chechen siloviki (people, who work in the state organizations that are authorized to use force against citizens or others) in 2020 on suspicion of homosexuality. 

He was allegedly beaten, bound with duct tape, strangled with a bag, and electrocuted. Salman was forced to ‘confess' that he had sexual relations with a friend. Russian ‘Novaya Gazeta’ extensively reported Mukayev’s case.

(See: Yerevan Court Hears Case of Chechen Man Seeking Refugee Status in Armenia)

Mukayev was detained in Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport in 2021 when he tried to leave for France, where he was granted an entry visa. In Yerevan, he was questioned and released. He applied for asylum afterwards.

The Moscow Times, referring to a statement issued by SK SOS (a team of human rights defenders that helps LGBTQ+ people and their families facing danger to their lives, persecution, and violence in the North Caucasus, writes the Yerevan court ruled that LGBTQ+ people “are not safe in Chechnya, and in Russia and their rights may be violated due to homophobic laws.” 

The court noted Russia’s Supreme Court ruling that designated the so-called “international LGBT public movement” as a banned “extremist” organization.

“These official processes are de facto an incentive for society to legalize violence and other forms of persecution of members of the LGBT community,” SK SOS cites the court ruling as saying.