A Predictable Ruling: Supreme Court Rejects Cassation Appeal in Abdulmumin Gadzhiev Case

Russia’s Supreme Court has refused to grant the cassation appeal in the case of Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, entrepreneur Kemal Tambiev, and lawyer Abubakar Rizvanov, thereby upholding their earlier convictions.

All three were convicted in 2023 on terrorism-related charges. Gadzhiev was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony for financing and participating in terrorist activities; Tambiev received 17 and a half years, and Rizvanov was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Russian and international human rights and journalism organizations have described the case as politically motivated and the charges as fabricated. The Memorial Human Rights Center designated all three men as political prisoners. Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and other international organizations also advocated for Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, calling for his release.

The trial revealed numerous inconsistencies in the investigation and the prosecution's case. Several witnesses testified that their statements differed from the official investigative records, with one witness claiming that information he had never provided was included in the protocol. The defense also highlighted discrepancies in the prosecution's narrative, pointing out factual and chronological contradictions regarding the organizations involved in the case. According to the defense lawyers, some of these organizations had already ceased to exist by the time the alleged events took place, while others had not yet been established. Despite this, the court ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution was sufficient to uphold the convictions. In 2025, the European Court of Human Rights concluded that the arguments underpinning the Russian courts' guilty verdict did not stand up to scrutiny and awarded Abdulmumin Gadzhiyev compensation in the amount of six thousand euros.

Prior to his arrest, Abdulmumin Gadzhiyev headed the religion desk at the independent Dagestani newspaper *Chernovik*.

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