On January 4, the publication Kavkaz.Realii reported on another criminal case filed against a woman who returned from Syria, where she followed her husband. A resident of Dagestan with many children is accused of terrorism - involvement in the Islamic State banned in Russia. The woman is under arrest and faces up to 20 years in prison.
As the defense stated, challenging her arrest in court, “she had no intention of participating in any groups or taking up arms... The investigator’s statement that the accused had a goal in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic to oppose the interests of the Russian Federation is not lends itself to no logical explanation."
The case was one of many criminal cases brought against women who voluntarily returned from Syria. Most often these are residents of Dagestan and Ingushetia, whose husbands went to fight in Syria, considering it their religious duty.
Thus, in April 2022, the Kizilyurt court of Dagestan sentenced a local resident in the case of participation in an illegal armed group - 5 years of suspended imprisonment.
From the FSB materials it follows that from July 2014 to August 2021, the woman took part in the activities of the international terrorist organization “Islamic State” (banned in Russia) - “she was engaged in cooking, sewing uniforms, and providing other assistance to its members.”
Makhachkala resident Gogush Absaidova was much less fortunate - in November 2022, by the verdict of the Sovetsky District Court, she received 6 years in prison under the same Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The execution of the sentence was postponed until her son reaches 14 years of age.
Similar charges were brought against 40-year-old Khava Khamkhoeva, a resident of the village of Nesterovskoye in Ingushetia, and against Inga Mamedova, a resident of the Khiva region of Dagestan. The latter was sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison, the sentence was deferred until her child was 14 years old.
One of the lawyers specializing in terrorism cases explained on condition of anonymity that feeding and washing your husband, even if he is a member of a banned organization, is not a crime. “Accusing these women of participating in an illegal armed group is nonsense. And no one understands what evidence there is of involvement in these banned organizations. In a rule-of-law state, these women who voluntarily returned to their homeland and their children would only receive rehabilitation. Our security forces are ready to turn anyone into terrorists for the sake of detection, for the sake of bonuses, titles and promotions. This is much easier than catching real criminals,” said the lawyer.