On June 15, in the Akhmatovsky District Court of Grozny, arguments began between the parties in the case of Zarema Musaeva, the mother of Chechen opposition activists Yangulbaevs. The prosecutor said that Musaeva’s guilt in fraud and assault on a police officer had been proven, and requested 5 and a half years in prison for her.
Let us recall that in January of this year, Zarema Musayeva, the wife of retired federal judge Saydi Yangulbayeva, the mother of human rights activist Abubakar Yangulbayev and oppositionist Ibragim Yangulbayev, author of the 1ADAT telegram channel, was brought to Chechnya from Nizhny Novgorod against her will as a witness. As Ramzan Kadyrov stated, during the delivery the woman attacked a police officer and also violated public order. Subsequently, a criminal case was opened against her under Articles 318 (“Violence against a representative of the authorities”) and 159 (“Fraud”), as well as an administrative case for allegedly using obscene language.
Human rights activists at Memorial, which was liquidated in Russia, recognized her as a political prisoner and believe that “the persecution of Musaeva cannot be viewed differently than taking her hostage for the purpose of returning and punishing the men of the family for reasons of personal revenge.” The woman, who suffers from diabetes, has been in custody since January 2022.
Musayeva's lawyers consider the prosecution's evidence to be fabricated. Thus, in May, the court examined the conclusion of a forensic expert regarding the injuries allegedly inflicted by Musaeva to the district commissioner Magomed Abdulkhamidov. The district police officer stated that the woman attacked him at the police department: “As soon as I began to write down her data, she attacked me, trying to gouge out my eye, I defended myself from her, but she was able to touch my face and scratched me in the left cheekbone area with her nails." The expert recorded “eight strip-like abrasions”, which caused “a temporary disruption of the functions of organs and systems... lasting up to three weeks... and, based on a short-term health disorder, are classified as minor harm to health.”
At the same time, an independent expert stated that the injuries on the policeman’s face were not correctly described, cannot be qualified as minor harm to health, and the origin of the scratches is unclear.
On June 16, Zarema Musaeva made her final statement in court. “I didn’t commit any crimes. People know me as a good-natured person. Allah sees how clear my conscience is,” said the defendant. She also thanked everyone who supported her and wrote letters to the pre-trial detention center.
The sentencing is scheduled for July 4.