Timurziev brothers’ father asks Kadyrov to give out their bodies

In his video appeal to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Akhmetkhan Timurziev, a resident of Ingushetia, has noted that the refusal to give out dead bodies, even when it comes to murderers, contradicts the Muslim traditions.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 28, 2020, policemen were attacked in Grozny. One of them was killed, while the other was severely wounded. Both attackers were killed. They were identified as Timurziev brothers, natives of Ingushetia. The video appeal recorded by members of the Timurziev and Sultygov Ingush teips (family clans), in which they, in particular, requested to give out the bodies of the killed brothers, provoked a sharp negative reaction from the Chechen authorities. Relatives of the killed policeman declared blood feud against the Ingush teips. After the reconciliation in Grozny, Ramzan Kadyrov instructed his subordinates to consider the issue of giving out the Timurziev brothers’ bodies. However, the leader of Chechnya noted that if the case was investigated under the article on terrorism, the bodies would not be given out.

Today, the “FortangaORG” Telegram channel of Ingush activists has released a video appeal recorded by Akhmetkhan Timurziev, a father of the Ingush brothers, killed in Chechnya. According to Akhmetkhan Timurziev himself, the appeal is addressed to the “Chechen ruler.” “I would like to ask to give out to us the bodies of my sons,” says Akhmetkhan Timurziev in the video as translated from the Ingush language by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The man emphasizes that he condemns the act of his sons and claims that he himself would have killed them in order to prevent an attack on the police.

The father of the killed brothers justifies his request by the need to conduct religious rituals. “Ramzan, if you give the bodies out, I will bury them. It is not good when the dead are not buried. <...> We should bury the deceased [according to the Islamic traditions],” Akhmetkhan Timurziev emphasizes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 7, 2021 at 03:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.