Prosecutors Seek Extended Sentence for Chechen Activists Mother Amid Controversial Charges

Russian state prosecutors are seeking an additional four-year prison term for Zarema Musaeva, the imprisoned mother of prominent critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, as reported by the rights group Crew Against Torture on Thursday.

At 55 years old, Musaeva is the mother of human rights advocate Abubakar Yangulbaev and bloggers Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbaev. She is currently serving a five-year sentence for alleged fraud and assaulting a police officer.

In December, only three months prior to her anticipated release, she was hit with a new criminal charge.

Prosecutors allege that Musaeva, who has diabetes, scratched a prison bailiff’s neck during a hospital visit. They assert that her actions were driven by frustration over being transferred back and forth between her prison and the hospital for medical treatment.

Musaeva refutes these claims. Her attorney, Alexander Savin, has called for her acquittal, stating that the evidence of her guilt is lacking and suggesting that the bailiff fabricated the incident.

Savin mentioned that inmates from the same facility as Musaeva reported that she had expressed contentment with the hospital and its medical staff. He added that she has been receiving treatment at this hospital since at least 2012.

The next court session for her case is set for August 5.

Previously, the European Court of Human Rights had instructed Russia to compensate Musaeva and her family for her “arbitrary” arrest, which was largely viewed as retaliation against the political activism of her three sons, all of whom are outspoken critics of Kadyrov.

Musaeva was forcefully apprehended in Nizhny Novgorod, a city in western Russia, and taken against her will to Chechnya in January 2022.