Zarema Musayeva Turns 56

Today, the imprisoned mother of Chechen activists, Zarema Musayeva, turned 56. This is her fourth birthday, which she spends in prison.

Recently, in the Shali City Court of Chechnya, the state prosecutor requested 4 years of imprisonment for Zarema Musayeva. The woman is accused of disrupting the work of the colony.

The investigation claims that 55-year-old Musayeva attacked an FSIN employee during transportation to the hospital, where she is undergoing planned therapy for chronic diseases. The motive for the attack was allegedly Musayeva's dissatisfaction with the fact that she was not left in the hospital for inpatient treatment.

Lawyer Alexander Savin called on the court to acquit Zarema Musayeva, stating that her guilt has not been proven, and the testimony of the FSIN employee is false. He emphasized that, according to prisoners interviewed during the investigation, Musayeva was satisfied with the medical care. In addition, the lawyer emphasized that the defendant knew about the lack of a 24-hour inpatient department at the hospital and, therefore, could not count on a long stay there.

Zarema Musayeva is the wife of former federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev and the mother of Chechen activists Abubakar, Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbaev. In early March 2024, the Pyatigorsk Cassation Court mitigated her sentence on the previous charge, reducing her prison term from 5 years to 4 years and 9 months. In July 2023, a court in Grozny found the woman guilty of using violence against a police officer and fraud and sentenced her to five years in prison. According to investigators, she scratched the face of a police officer from Chechnya during her transfer from Nizhny Novgorod to Grozny. Human rights activists claim that the woman was kidnapped as a hostage and convicted for her sons' opposition activities.

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