Pressure on Rizvanova's company is linked to the persecution of her brother

Analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" linked the attention of the security forces to the cosmetics business of Zumrud Rizvanova with the sentence of her brother on the article on financing terrorism. They are sure that the relatives of all those convicted in the case of the editor of "Chernovik" Abdulmumin Gadzhiev are threatened with professional accounting.

As "Caucasian Knot wrote, in early July, security forces came to the Makhachkala office of a cosmetics company owned by Zumrud Rizvanova and interrogated her daughter for several hours, after which they took two copies of the products for examination. Rizvanova suggested that the security forces want to "squeeze out a promising business" and subject her to criminal prosecution "in the footsteps of her brother." The sister of Abubakar Rizvanov, who was convicted of financing terrorism, is closing the production and sale of cosmetics under the Halal Cosmetics brand in Dagestan. The company's employees will also leave the republic, said Zumrud Rizvanova. She added that she was "registered for extremism."

The results of the examination of the Halal Cosmetics brand products that were seized by security forces are currently unknown.

"Due to family circumstances, I cannot deal with this issue now. On the advice of a lawyer, we are refraining from commenting for now," Zumrud Rizvanova told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

A Dagestani journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has no doubt that Rizvanov's sister caused great irritation among the security forces. "She is a businesslike, active woman. At the same time, she cannot be accused of extremism or other extreme manifestations, since she has always been a public person and has always been in the public eye, especially in various business projects. For the security forces, accustomed to "extinguishing" the entire family of a convicted person, especially under extremist articles, this is unusual and irritating," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As for Rizvanova's business, he does not rule out that the security forces could have been attracted by her competitors or enemies. "Giving them the opportunity to get even with her and, perhaps, make some money on this issue. But I am far from the world of cosmetics, so I cannot clarify the popularity of the Halal Cosmetics brand," the journalist noted.

The Halal Cosmetics Instagram* public page has 126 thousand subscribers as of 18:55 Moscow time on July 24.

A lawyer for the Memorial Center* stated on condition of anonymity that it is most likely that Rizvanov's relatives and others convicted in this case will be put on a preventive register.

"It is being conducted in Dagestan with mass violations and concealment of information from citizens. Signs of being registered include phone calls and visits by the police, summonses to give explanations to police departments, photographing, fingerprinting, obtaining DNA samples, lengthy checks at traffic police posts. In fact, this restricts the freedom of movement of citizens, interferes with the inviolability of their family life," the lawyer explained.

If the reason for the actions against Zumrud Rizvanova is only her brother, then such pressure is unacceptable, believes member of the Public Chamber of Dagestan, head of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan Shamil Khadulaev. "This shouldn't be the case if there are no facts of their illegal activity," Khadulaev told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent

Editor of the Dagestani newspaper "Chernovik" Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, head of the Ansar charity foundation Abubakar (also referred to as Abubakr, - note of the "Caucasian Knot") Rizvanov and businessman Kemal Tambiev were arrested in June 2019 on charges of financing terrorism. On September 12, 2023, the court sentenced Gadzhiev to 17 years in prison, Rizvanov to 18 years, and Kemal Tambiev to 17.5 years. The prosecution did not present convincing evidence in court, the defendants said. They demanded an acquittal, but on November 1, 2024, the appellate court only reduced the sentences of all three convicts by two months. Details of the case are collected in the Caucasian Knot article "Golunov number two": the main thing about the Abdulmumin Gadzhiev case". According to colleagues, Gadzhiev suffers because the newspaper voiced "uncomfortable questions" to the authorities and security forces, according to the Caucasian Knot article "Draft copy": threats, criminal cases, murder of the editor-in-chief".

* the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are prohibited in Russia.