MOSCOW (AP) — Rights group Amnesty International says its researcher in Russia's North Caucasus has been abducted and beaten while reporting on protests in the region.

Amnesty International said in a statement on Monday that Oleg Kozlovsky was abducted earlier this month by unknown men who said they were from Ingushetia's anti-extremist unit and threatened to kill him unless he agreed to cooperate.

Kozlovsky was in Ingushetia's regional capital Magas to cover protests against a controversial land swap deal between Ingushetia and Chechnya.

Amnesty said the men took him to a field, stripped him naked and performed a mock execution. He was released several hours later.

Kozlovsky said on Twitter he went to the police but haven't heard of any progress in the investigation and decided to leave the country for now.