CAIRO: Egyptian authorities forcibly deported the remaining Russian nationals held in detention since late May, despite concerns that the Al-Azhar students will be returning to a politically unsafe environment in Moscow.
Some of the deportees reportedly have links to Chechen rebel, namely Maskhud Abdullaev, the son of a Chechen rebel leader.
The students are at risk of ill-treatment and torture upon arrival in Moscow, Amnesty International wrote in a statement issued yesterday.
However, a traffic jam prevented police from getting Abdullaev to the airport in time to join them, AFP reported.
Police transporting Abdullaev, whose father Supyan is fighting Russian rule in Chechnya, were caught up in a traffic jam and the youth did not reach the airport, a friend told AFP.
“A police officer took him to the airport but they were delayed on the way by a traffic jam and the plane had already taken off, said Ruslan Mussayev.
“He doesn’t want to go to Russia; there’s a problem for him there, Mussayev said of Abdullaev, who he said is now due to fly on Friday.
The fears of torture in Russia provide a new twist to a series of events that has witnessed difficult conditions for the detained students in Egypt, where students and Russian Embassy officials have reported cases of mistreatment.
According to The Moscow Times, one detainee, Khamid Alkhazurov, was quoted on Russian television news Channel One: “We were herded into one room, measuring five square meters. Fifty people, it’s unbearable. It’s hot here and there are no facilities, and there are sick people among us. They are categorically refusing to carry out our demands.
Local security forces apprehended at least 40 foreign students at Al-Azhar University in a security crackdown in the days leading up to President Barack Obama’s speech on June 4. Many of the students were released within several days, but Egyptian authorities have already deported students citing visa violations.
The raid also came in the wake of the arrests of seven Egyptians and foreigners suspected in the Feb. 22 Al-Hussein bombing. None of the suspects were Russian, but Amnesty wrote that Egyptian authorities suspected connections with other foreign students.
The remaining six students are among 35 Russian nationals originally apprehended. They came to study in Egypt from Azerbaijan, where they say they were provided refugee status.
Representatives of the Russian Consulate in Cairo are working with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior to arrange the students’ deportation. According to Amnesty, the interior ministry will only allow the students to fly into Moscow.
The authorities have denied the students’ requests to fly into Azerbaijan, according to Amnesty.
The Russian embassy refused to comment, and the Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment.
Four other Russian nationals who were apprehended in the May 27 raid were deported last week. According to reports cited by Amnesty International, Russian and Chechen security forces took the students into custody upon their arrival in Moscow. While three of the students were released, Amnesty wrote that they have not accounted for the fourth.
Amnesty warned of the possible danger the students might encounter in Moscow. “There have been persistent and credible reports that ethnic Chechen and Ingush men have been charged with and convicted of terrorism-related offences, based on forced confessions and testimony extracted under torture, the organization said in its statement.
But in Russia, support for fellow countryman has been the dominant rhetoric. “We won t allow the violation of our citizens rights, Chechen Senator Ziyad Sabsabi told Interfax in the days following the arrests.
