16:53, 24 July 2025

The defense pointed out inconsistencies in the case against Musayeva

The prosecution's version of Zarema Musayeva's attack on a prison colony employee is based only on his testimony; witnesses did not confirm her guilt. During the debate, the defense demanded that Musayeva be acquitted.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, on June 24, an FSIN employee who is a victim in Zarema Musayeva's case of disrupting the colony's activities, told the court that the convict demanded that she be left in a medical facility and repeatedly insulted him. This statement was not confirmed by any of the 14 witnesses. Despite the fact that the testimony of witnesses and evidence clearly demonstrate Zarema Musayeva's innocence, the Chechen court's verdict in this politically motivated case is a foregone conclusion, the human rights activist believes. At today's hearing, the prosecution demanded that Musaeva be sentenced to four years in a penal colony.

On the evening of January 20, 2022, people who introduced themselves as employees of the Chechen security forces broke into the apartment of retired federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev in Nizhny Novgorod and attempted to take him away for questioning. But for such actions, permission from the Prosecutor General's Office and the Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges was required; instead, his wife Zarema Musayeva was taken to the republic.A criminal case was opened against her: according to investigators, she scratched the face of one of the security officers at the police station. In July 2023, the court sentenced Zarema Musayeva to 5.5 years, then the Supreme Court of Chechnya reduced Zarema Musayeva's prison term to five years. At the end of 2024, a new criminal case was opened against Musayeva for an alleged attack on a prison officer who accompanied her to the hospital.

During the debate, the defense asked to acquit Musayeva. According to lawyer Alexander Savin, his client's guilt was not proven, and the FSIN officer slandered her, according to the website of the Team Against Torture*.

According to the FSIN employee, he and his partner were transporting Musaeva in a car from the hospital. A conflict began between them, and the woman hit the officer on the back, scratched his neck and tore off his shoulder strap. The cause of the conflict was allegedly Musaeva's dissatisfaction with the fact that she was not being left in the hospital.

However, interviewed witnesses from among the prisoners said that Zarema did not express dissatisfaction with the quality or organization of medical care from the colony. In addition, she knew perfectly well that she could not be left in the medical facility. The woman has been observed in this hospital since at least 2012 and knows that there is not and never has been a 24-hour inpatient department there. According to witnesses, Zarema was very pleased with the doctors and the treatment.

"According to the defense, this version of the prosecution is explained only by the fact that at the time the criminal case was initiated, they simply did not know that the Republican Endocrinology Dispensary did not have a 24-hour hospital, so this motive, as stated by the victim, seemed quite convincing to the investigation," said lawyer Savin during the debate.

It is also still unclear where exactly the crime took place. "The indictment indicates the exact coordinates of the crime scene. However, the second FSIN employee (who was driving the car - ed. "Caucasian Knot") in court indicated a completely different area with a difference of almost half a kilometer," the lawyer noted.

The witness did not see the blow that Musayeva allegedly inflicted on his colleague. According to him, Musayeva tugged the victim by the shoulder strap or shoulder. The victim claims that Musayeva did hit him and tore off the shoulder strap from his uniform jacket.

The medical examination of the victim also raises questions, the defense pointed out in the debate. A surgeon from Argun City Hospital No. 1 testified in court that, after examining the victim on October 29, 2024, he found one injury on him - a small abrasion. But, according to the forensic examination, more injuries were found on him - all of which are also attributed to Musayeva.

Other strange things happened on the day of the alleged attack. For example, the guards did not have chest recorders, and Musayeva was asked to move from the front seat of the car, where she always rode, to the back. Such an action could only be related to the fact that if the defendant had been in front, she would not have been physically able to use any violence against the FSIN officer, Savin noted.

During the debate, the prosecutor, listing mitigating circumstances for Musayeva, noted her health condition, the publication notes/

Musaeva's health condition is currently stable, she is receiving maintenance therapy, there are no significant changes for the worse, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told in the Team Against Torture*.

Zarema Musayeva has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes with complications and hypertension. In addition, in custody, the woman's health significantly deteriorated: she complained of fainting, bleeding, decreased vision, pain in her legs, and loss of sensitivity in her feet.

Recall that on November 11, 2024, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Musayeva for disorganizing the activities of the penal colony. The investigation believes that Musayeva, returning from treatment in the same car with an employee of the penal colony, "hit him with her palm in the neck area" and also "torn off the left shoulder strap from his uniform." Details are provided in the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Case of Zarema Musayeva".

Earlier, on July 4, 2023, the court sentenced Zarema Musayeva to 5.5 years in prison, finding her guilty of attacking a police officer. The appellate court reduced the sentence to five years and ordered Musayeva's transfer to a penal colony. The cassation court reduced Musayeva's sentence by another three months - to four years and nine months. This term expired on March 23, 2025. The defense insists on Musayeva's innocence.

Zarema Musayeva is the wife of former federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev. Chechen security forces took her away from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod on January 20, 2022. After this, Ramzan Kadyrov accused the Yangulbaev family of organizing a terrorist network and said that their place was "in prison or underground."

You can read about Kadyrov's conflict with the Yangulbaevs in the "Caucasian Knot" reports "How the Yangulbaevs became Kadyrov's enemies" and "The main thing about the fight between Kadyrov's men and the Yangulbaevs".

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/413292