The European Union called on the Russian authorities to release Zarema Musayeva | News from Germany about Europe

The European Union calls on the Russian authorities to release Zarema Musayeva and expresses its concern over “reliable reports of persistent violations of human rights in Chechnya.” This is stated in a statement by Nabila Massrali, the official representative of the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, which was made public on Saturday, January 22.

As specified in the document, concern in Brussels is caused by “the inaction of the federal authorities in Moscow and the impunity of those responsible for illegal actions against Chechen human rights activists and their relatives.”

It is emphasized that “the forcible detention in Nizhny Novgorod and the forced removal to Chechnya of Zarema Musayeva, mother of the former lawyer of the Committee against Torture Abubakar Yangulbaev and Russian opposition blogger Ibragim Yangulbaev, add to the already long list of human rights violations in Chechnya.”

The EU calls for an investigation into these cases, an end to the persecution of human rights defenders and their families, and the release of all those illegally detained, the statement said.

Complaint to the ECtHR

A day earlier, an urgent complaint over the kidnapping of the mother of human rights activist Yangulbaev was filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). A complaint under the 39th rule is used when urgent legal assistance is needed in cases where “the life and health of a person is threatened by an imminent risk of causing irreparable harm,” the report says.

Kadyrov’s threats

On the same day, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, publicly threatened the family of the ex-judge of the Chechen Supreme Court, Saydi Yangulbaev, arguing that the forced removal of his wife Zarema to Chechnya did not violate the laws of the Russian Federation. Family members of the former judge “are waiting for a place either in prison or underground,” according to a message on Kadyrov’s Telegram channel.

Abduction of Zarema Musayeva

Zarema Musaeva

On January 20, unidentified men, who introduced themselves as policemen from Chechnya, broke into the apartment of the parents of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer with the “Committee against Torture”, in Nizhny Novgorod. They presented a decision to bring the father and mother of the human rights activist to Chechnya as witnesses in a fraud case. Saidi Yangulbaev showed the judge’s certificate, after which the unknown took away only Zarema Musaeva, beating her along with her husband, the Committee Against Torture noted. Later it became known that she was taken to Grozny.

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A billion for payments under the decisions of the ECtHR
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Author: Elena Barysheva