A Chechen opposition blogger who was reportedly killed earlier this month testified in a German court in November, and the court where he appeared said he believed he was still alive.
This is reported by Radio Liberty.
Comments received by the publication on December 11 confirm previous reports by Swedish Radio and German media that Tumso Abdurakhmanov is alive. This contradicts multiple reports this week that he was killed. Anzor Maskhadov, a well-known leader of the Chechen diaspora, also told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service that Abdurakhmanov was killed by unknown persons.
Responding to an email from Radio Svoboda asking about Abdurakhmanov's condition and whereabouts, Laurent Lafleur, a representative of the Higher Regional Court of Munich, said that he testified as a witness on November 8 and that "as far as the court knows, the witness you named is alive." .
"The court has no information about the current whereabouts of the witness," he added. He did not provide other details of the trial.
Swedish police have repeatedly refused to comment on the case, telling the media that they have no information about any reports of murders or investigations.
On December 9, Swedish Radio reported that Abdurakhmanov was scheduled to testify in a case involving a man accused of attempting to kill his brother.
A spokesman for the Bavarian court also told Swedish Radio that Tumso Abdurakhmanov is alive.
It became known on December 2 that Tumso Abdurakhmanov and his brother, human rights defender Muhammad Abdurakhmanov, who live in Sweden, stopped communicating. At the same time, there were reports that the blogger could be killed.
On December 5, associates of Tumso Abdurakhmanov reported his murder in Sweden. According to them, the blogger was shot from December 1 to 2.