A judge has sentenced Zarema Musaeva, the jailed mother of outspoken critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to an additional three years and 11 months in prison for allegedly assaulting a prison guard, the rights group Crew Against Torture said Wednesday.
Musaeva, 56, suffers from diabetes and was approaching the end of a nearly five-year prison sentence for fraud and assaulting a police officer. She was violently detained in the city of Nizhny Novgorod and forcibly taken to the republic of Chechnya in January 2022.
The new sentence, handed down by the Shali City Court in Chechnya, found her guilty of “disrupting the operations of a penal colony,” a charge brought in November 2024. Musaeva denies the accusation and plans to appeal the sentence.
“It’s obvious to any sane person who has ever heard of Zarema’s story that she’s innocent,” her lawyer Sergei Babinets said.
Musaeva is the mother of human rights lawyer Abubakar Yangulbaev and bloggers Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbaev, all vocal critics of Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya with broad autonomy since 2007.
The European Court of Human Rights had earlier ordered Russia to pay damages to Musaeva and her family over her “arbitrary” arrest, which was widely seen as retribution for the political activism of her three sons.
On Tuesday, Musaeva said she feared for her life if returned to the same penal colony where the alleged assault occurred. It was not immediately clear where she would serve the new sentence.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
