The European Court ordered the Russian authorities to pay 52 thousand euros to Zarema Musayeva, who is being held in a Chechen penal colony. She was detained and tried for a crime she did not commit, in order to intimidate her loved ones. The ECHR also ruled that Musayeva and her relatives were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, the Team Against Torture reported. 

According to the ruling of the European Court, the forcible delivery of Zarema Musaeva to Grozny and her subsequent arrest is revenge on her relatives who criticized the leadership of Chechnya. Therefore, in addition to 52 thousand euros, the court also decided to pay 6.5 thousand euros each to the woman’s husband and daughter – Saydi and Aliya Yangulbaev. The resolution states that the Chechen authorities repeatedly publicly threatened the family, but Russia did not conduct an investigation into this fact. Zarema Musaeva’s relatives were able to leave Russia, but she herself was forcibly taken out of her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod and taken to Chechnya. 

In early March, the Pyatigorsk Court of Cassation commuted the sentence of Zarema Musayeva from 5 years to 4 years and 9 months in prison. Last year in Grozny she was convicted on charges of using violence against a government official. Let us remind you that on January 20, 2022, police officers from Chechnya came to Nizhny Novgorod and took Musaeva away. After being taken to Grozny, the woman was accused of using force against a police officer. She allegedly scratched his face. 

Zarema Musayeva is the mother of Chechen activists Abubakar, Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbaev. Human rights activists believe that she was kidnapped as a hostage and convicted of her sons’ opposition activities.