Russians held in Sweden for Chechen blogger attack

STOCKHOLM: Two Russian citizens have been arrested in Sweden suspected of a hammer attack last month on a blogger critical of Chechen strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov, media reported Saturday.

A district court in the central Swedish town of Gavle on Friday ordered a Russian woman in her 30s held in custody, suspected of being an accessory to the attempted murder of Tumso Abdurakhmanov in late February.

A 29-year-old Russian man was previously detained by the court for attempted murder.

After the alleged attack, Abdurakhmanov posted a video showing the assailant, whom he had apparently overpowered, covered in blood. He also brandished the hammer that he said the assailant wanted to kill him with. The Chechen blogger claimed the man was sent by Russia to kill him.

"We're working on trying to establish the motive... and of course we´ll take into consideration the remarks made by the plaintiff," prosecutor Therese Jansson told daily Svenska Dagbladet.

A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Sweden said the diplomatic mission had been notified by local authorities about the arrests of a man and a woman.

The spokesperson told Russian news agencies that the embassy staff had requested a meeting with the detained man. "We are monitoring the situation," the unidentified spokesperson added.

Abdurakhmanov, 34, has lived in exile since 2015 after receiving what he describes as threats to his life from Chechnya.