On October 5, the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted a resolution strongly condemning the abduction and politically motivated sentence of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of Chechen activists the Yangulbayev brothers. MEPs called on the Chechen authorities to immediately release Musayeva, provide her with adequate medical care and put an end to all persecution of civil society and the opposition.
"Mrs. Musayeva (wife of former Supreme Court judge Saidi Yangulbayev and mother of human rights activist Abubakar and opposition bloggers Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbayev) was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of fraud and assault on government officials. MEPs consider this to be retribution for her sons' legitimate human rights activities and political views," the resolution says.
Zarema Musayeva was detained in January 2022 in Nizhny Novgorod and brought to Chechnya as a witness in a criminal case of fraud. According to Chechen security forces, the woman attacked a police officer and swore. For this, an administrative and criminal case was opened against her under Article 318 ("Violence against a government official"). On July 4, the Akhmatovsky District Court of Grozny sentenced her to five and a half years in a penal colony. On August 23, the Supreme Court of Chechnya reduced the sentence. Taking into account the presence of chronic diseases, she was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
The human rights project "Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial" recognized Zarema Musayeva as a political prisoner. Her sons, well-known opposition bloggers and owners of the 1ADAT channel, are abroad; her husband, daughter, and son, a human rights activist, were also forced to leave Russia after Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov accused the Yangulbayev family of organizing a terrorist network and supporting terrorism and said that their place was “in prison or underground.”
“The persecution of Musayeva cannot be viewed as anything other than her being taken hostage in order to return and punish the men of the family for reasons of personal revenge,” Memorial believes. According to human rights activists, the case against Musayeva is “politically motivated, aimed at the involuntary cessation of her sons’ public activities and the retention of power by those in power.”
Immediately after Musayeva’s arrest, the ECHR demanded that the Russian authorities ensure her safety. The European Union, the US State Department, and Amnesty International have called for Musayeva’s release.
Since her arrest, Musayeva has been in custody, despite her deteriorating health. She has insulin-dependent diabetes type 2, atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, arterial hypertension and other diagnoses.
The European Parliament notes that "the human rights situation remains catastrophic due to the abuses committed by the Kadyrov regime established in Russia against human rights defenders and vulnerable groups."
Having strongly condemned the attack on lawyer Alexander Nemov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina, who were on their way to Musayeva's sentencing, and the brutal repression of other human rights defenders and independent media, the European Parliament "urges the competent authorities to conduct a transparent and thorough investigation into these attacks and to bring those responsible to justice."
