Gay Chechen dreams of 'normal life' after escape to France After escaping to Moscow, Azmad has become the first Chechen to benefit from a French association's efforts to secure emergency humanitarian visas for gay Chechens in fear for their lives. "I always wondered what it was like to be happy," says Azmad, sitting in a French hotel room after fleeing a vicious wave of persecution against gay men in his native Chechnya. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES.