Blogger Insa Lander faces difficult situation after her arrest, her friends say

Insa Lander, a blogger from Kabardino-Balkaria, found herself without money after she was banned from using the Internet under house arrest. The costs of an advocate, a rented apartment, and food are being covered by blogger’s friends, while Insa Lander does not have access to her bank accounts, her friends say.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 9, 2021, Oguz Insa Soltan-Khamidova, a blogger from Baksan, also known under the pseudonym Insa Lander, was placed under house arrest on suspicion of assisting terrorism. On May 3, the blogger’s friends said that they had opened a fundraiser to pay for rented housing for Insa Lander.

According to advocate Dmitry Zakhvatov, the case against the blogger is based on correspondence on the “VKontakte” social media outlet from 2014 with a certain person whom the blogger was allegedly persuading to take part in activities of a terrorist organization.

Insa Lander spent the first two months of the house arrest at the place of her registration, blogger’s boyfriend Alexander noted. “There were no conditions for life: there was no supply of hot water and heating, there was a gas leak a couple of times, and she almost got poisoned. Those months were the most difficult for her,” Alexander said.

The young man confirms that the blogger cannot use the means to communicate with the outside world and continue to work. All the projects that she led have been frozen.