15 November 2018, 08:29
Authorities suspend return of Russians from IS controlled territory
About 7000 Russian women asked Russian authorities to help them return home from the warfare zone in the Middle East, but since the start of the year, none of the wives of former militants has returned to Russia, the participants in a press conference in Moscow have stated.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 15, a Makhachkala court found Zagidat Abakarova, a native of Dagestan, to be a member of an illegal armed formation (IAF) and sentenced her to eight years in prison. The woman urged the court to postpone the execution of the verdict by 13 years, until her youngest child was 14 years old.
At least 7000 women left Russia for the Middle East with their husbands who joined the militants, about half of them are from Northern Caucasus and each has several children, said Kheda Saratova, a member of the Human Rights Council under the head of Chechnya.
As stated by Anna Kuznetsova, the Russian Children's Ombudsperson, documents are already being prepared for the return to Russia of 155 children from 16 Russian regions.
Zagidat Abakarova told that her husband took her with two children to Turkey and Syria in 2014, and by the time of his death in the spring of 2017, she remained in the warfare zone with her four children, and was able to return to Russia after having reached the territory of the Kurds.
"My participation in the IAF was what I was cooking and making laundry for my husband," the "Kommersant" quotes Ms Abakarova as saying.
After her sentencing, she moved from Dagestan to Chechnya and became an activist in the group for terrorism prophylactic. She tells young people about her experiences in the Middle East.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 14, 2018 at 08:18 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
