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The Shali City Court has issued a new sentence to Zarema Musaeva, mother of Chechen activists: three years and ten months in a penal settlement, which is one month less than the sentence handed down during the first trial. Reported by the “Team Against Torture.”

Musaeva has again been found guilty under the article on disorganising the activities of a correctional facility (Part 2 of Article 321 of the Criminal Code). The retrial lasted just two days—3 and 4 March—whereas the previous trial took six months.

“Just two days, two incomplete days to examine all the evidence in the criminal case, to question the victim, my client, about ten witnesses, to analyse a significant volume of case materials. <…> The court fully accepted the prosecution’s position. My client was denied time to prepare for giving testimony and for closing arguments. The defence was given just one hour to formulate its position regarding the evidence,” said lawyer Alexander Savin.

Musaeva asked for the proceedings to be postponed due to feeling unwell, but her request was denied. While in custody, Musaeva, who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus, atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, arterial hypertension and other illnesses, regularly suffers from health issues. As a result, she has repeatedly been hospitalised. She struggles to move because of the pain and has repeatedly suffered acute hypertensive crises, in some cases accompanied by loss of consciousness.

In her final statement, as in all previous hearings, Musaeva did not admit guilt. “I have not committed any crime—the victim here is me. My conscience is clear in this Holy Month,” she said. She has already appealed the new verdict.

  • In July 2023, Musaeva was convicted in a first case—on charges of fraud (Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code) and using violence against a police officer (Part 2 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code). She allegedly committed fraud involving consumer loans, and in 2022, after being abducted by Chechen security forces in Nizhny Novgorod (a large city in western Russia) and brought to Grozny for questioning, she scratched a police officer’s cheek. She was initially sentenced to five and a half years in prison, but on appeal her sentence was reduced to four years and nine months.
  • A second criminal case was opened against Musaeva a few months before the end of her sentence in the first case.
  • She has been in detention since January 2022. Before that, Chechen security forces abducted her from her own flat in Nizhny Novgorod and drove her to Chechnya.