A Chechen blogger and vocal critic of Chechnya's President Ramzan Kadyrov died of multiple stab wounds in an attack at a hotel in northern France last week, a source close to the inquiry said Monda, reports FRANCE 24.
Imran Aliev, a 44-year-old who used the pseudonym Mansur Staryi, was found dead Thursday morning in the hotel room near the train station in central Lille.
He had arrived from Belgium the day before with another man, "who presumably had the same nationality," the source told AFP.
Aliev had been stabbed several times in the throat, and the knife was found close to the body.
Given his outspoken critiques of Kadyrov's government, the killing "bears all the hallmarks of having a political motive," the source said.
The prosecutor's office in Lille said no one had been detained so far in the investigation but declined to provide further details.