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Tortured and killed after being denied asylum in Norway

Book review written by Øystein Windstad
TORTURE: Despite warnings, Chechen Apti and Umar were denied asylum and had to leave Norway. The Helsinki Committee and the Memorial say the two were tortured and killed by the Chechen authorities. Are the Norwegian authorities responsible for their subsequent death after denying them political asylum?

Ny Tid is the first Norwegian newspaper to document that an asylum seeker has been tortured and killed in the dictatorship of Chechnya, after the Norwegian authorities thought he was lying about the danger to his life. Another asylum seeker reported that he was tortured with electric cables in Chechnya, before he was later found dead – after he was sent out of Norway.

Boats The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Russian human rights organization Memorial gave strong warnings to the immigration authorities and Norwegian law against sending the two men to Russia or Chechnya. The organizations believed that the authorities in Chechnya and Russia would pursue the two asylum seekers. The Norwegian authorities, on the other hand, felt that sending was safe.
«Both Norwegian law, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and the Immigration Appeals Board have. . .

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Øystein Windstad
Former journalist at Ny Tid.

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