A 21-year-old mother of two children, a native of Ingushetia, Leila Gatagazheva, is accused of collaborating with ISIS (a banned terrorist organization) for almost seven years. At the same time, she is being held accountable for the same acts for which she served a sentence of 5 years in prison in Iraq. By the time she was extradited to the Russian Federation, the girl had overstayed her sentence by almost a year, the Memorial Human Rights Center reported.

In 2014, Gatagazheva’s mother and children left Ingushetia for Syria. When Leila turned 13, she was forcibly married, and in 2017, her husband was killed. According to investigators, 15-year-old Gatagazheva joined the ISIS unit in Syria in the fall of 2016. There she allegedly performed economic functions and provided financial assistance.

Gatagazheva’s lawyer, Ramina Labazanova, claims that the investigation has no evidence for the charges and there is no reason to keep the girl in custody. The entire case is based on the testimony of a single classified witness. The defense cannot get acquainted with them while the investigation is ongoing. Also, according to the lawyer, law enforcement agencies wanted to force Leila to cooperate using psychological pressure and threats.