Marat Ashimov

Resident of Mordovia, lawyer. For several years he represented the legal interests of Muslims. In particular, he participated in the defence of a community in Kotelniki, which was brought to administrative responsibility in cases of illegal missionary activity, and defended a resident of Tatarstan convicted in a case of participation in "Nurdzhular". He also obtained the cancellation of a ban on teachers at a Mordovian school from wearing headscarves. On March 27, 2024, Ashimov was detained on charges of receiving 200,000 roubles from a trustee serving time in a Mordovian penal colony, promising to secure his parole by bribing certain officials. Ashimov himself and his lawyers say that this amount was a fee for legal advocacy work, and his client during the conversation hinted at a corrupt solution to the issue and tried to provoke the lawyer to give guarantees of parole. At the same time, the prisoner was wearing sound recording equipment. On 29th March, the court placed Ashimov under house arrest. On 9th May, the lawyer wrote to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers: "I have received many veiled warnings through third parties that if I do not stop actively defending the rights of accused and suspects, the rights of convicts, the rights of believers of various denominations and other persons, including on high-profile crimes, they will find a way to silence me". On 21th May he was taken into custody.