The arrest of an athlete from Chechnya, accused of justifying terrorism, has been extended

A court in Moscow extended the arrest term of MMA fighter from Chechnya Ilyas Yakubov by two months. He is accused of publicly justifying terrorism.

Earlier, Yakubov announced that the investigation was being delayed: according to him, it was taking a long time and was ineffective. The accused has been held in a pre-trial detention center for 10 months; the courts have refused to transfer him to house arrest.

The reason for his arrest was his publication on social networks. In the video, the athlete is training, and in the background is a recording of a monologue by Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev: “We have no other way, because our people can be defeated, but cannot be conquered.”

Lawyer Abdul-Kerim Taramov said that there is no evidence in the case that the profile with the nickname “ilyas_yakubov91” belongs to Yakubov.

Ilyas Yakubov comes from the Chechen city of Shali. He is the champion of the Shali region in freestyle wrestling, a master of sports in combat sambo, and a winner of the Moscow Cup in pankration.

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