Ramzan Kadyrov’s social media pages get suspended (Image: kadyrov_95eng | Instagram)
Instagram and Facebook suspended the anti-gay leader of Chechnya’s social media accounts.
Ramzan Kadyrov woke up to find his accounts had ‘disappeared overnight’ last night (22 December). It comes about after the US slapped sanctions on the anti-gay leader for human rights violations.
Gay Star News also exclusively reported on a video featuring Kadyrov and world champion boxer Mike Tyson this month.
Kadyrov has also previously approved of families killing their gay children and called gay people ‘devils.’
‘They wanted to annoy me, but failed’
He took to his second Instagram account in English to explain finding out about the social media suspension.
Kadyrov accused the White House for having a hand in the suspension. He also said he reached out to Instagram for an explanation, but got no response.
‘They wanted to annoy me, but failed,’ he said. ‘Which is the only thing that pleases me in the Instagram activity, as well as that of their handlers in the White House.
‘I’ve been long thinking to leave that social network, but didn’t want to upset my friends and followers – almost four millions (sic) of them.
‘Indeed, the Instagram move looks strange.
‘The network has long been pretending to be independent from Washington D.C. and their move came right after the US Treasury sanctions.
‘They might block the accounts, but they will never be able to block Ramzan Kadyrov name – nor the social media, neither their handlers,’ he said.
Read the full post.
US issues sanctions against Kadyrov
The United States banned Kadyrov for ‘extrajudicial killing’ and human rights violations on Wednesday (20 December).
A 2012 law known as the Magnitsky Act allows the country to withhold visas and freeze financial assets in light of human rights abuses.
In a statement, the US Department of the Treasury said: ‘As the head of the Chechen Republic, Kadyrov oversees an administration involved in disappearances and extra-judicial killings.
‘One of Kadyrov’s political opponents was believed to have been murdered at Kadyrov’s direction, after making allegations of torture and ill-treatment taking place in Chechnya, including alleged torture carried out by Kadyrov personally,’ it read.
Ramzan Kadyrov (Image: kadyrov_95eng | Instagram)
Kadyrov took to his now-deleted Instagram page to mock the sanctions.
In a video, he paused his workout to say: ‘A sleepless night is waiting for me,’ reports Reuters. ‘I can be proud that I‘m out of favor with the special services of the USA.
Gay Star News reached out to both Facebook and Instagram about the suspended accounts, but did not receive a reply.
Boxer Mike Tyson denies meeting up with anti-gay Chechen leader in Russia
