Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the governments of (1) Russia, and (2) Chechnya, about reports that Zelimkhan Bakaev, a Russian singer, was arrested, tortured, and murdered by Chechen authorities due to suspicion of homosexuality.

Together with our international partners we are monitoring this case closely. We continue to raise our concerns about the persecution of members of the LGBT community in Chechnya with the Russian authorities at a senior level. Most recently the Minister for Europe and the Americas raised the persecution of members of the LGBT community in Chechnya with Senator Aleksey Pushkov on Wednesday 25 October.