The Malgobek City Court of Ingushetia extended the arrest of Leila Gatagazheva for two months. The 21-year-old mother of two is accused of aiding ISIS (a banned terrorist organization).
Gatagazheva’s defense stated that the investigation did not provide evidence of her intention to escape. Previously, she was under house arrest and was not hiding from anyone.
In 2014, Leila Gatagazheva’s mother and her 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.
The criminal case is based on the testimony of a single classified witness. The defense cannot review the materials while the investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement agencies also wanted to force Leila to cooperate using psychological pressure and threats, noted her lawyer Ramina Labazanova.
