The Chechen court, already under criticism over the "horrific sentences" it has handed down, has deprived Zarema Musayeva of her freedom for nearly another four years.
According to the official version, she expressed dissatisfaction with being transferred from the colony to a hospital and allegedly struck and scratched an officer of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Bekbulatov.
However, the defense rejects this version. According to Zarema Musayeva's lawyer, Alexander Savin, the charges are baseless—there are no eyewitnesses to the incident, and other inmates have stated that Zarema was pleased with the medical treatment.
Zarema herself does not consider herself guilty and claims that her physical condition made it impossible for her to attack the officer.
Zarema Musayeva is the mother of opposition activists Ibrahim and Abubakar Yangulbayev, who operate from Kazakhstan.
In 2022, she was forcibly taken from her home in Nizhny Novgorod and sentenced in 2023 to 5.5 years of deprivation of liberty on charges of using force against a government representative. Later, her sentence was reduced to 4 years and 9 months.
In May 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Musayeva's favor, ordering the payment of €52,000 in compensation to her.
The court noted that the Russian government had violated several articles of the human rights convention.
