Advocate links blogger Djikaeva's health worsening with her custody at SIZO

Because of her arrest, Malika Djikaeva, an Instagram blogger from North Ossetia, is unable to take her regular treatment at hospital, which leads to auto-aggression bouts, Inara Bedoeva, her advocate, has stated. Malika has applied for her transfer from colony to SIZO (pre-trial prison) as she fears the unknown, Magomed Alamov, a human rights defender, has suggested.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Djikaeva was detained in Grozny on March 9, 2020, on suspicion of drug possession. The court sentenced her to three years in colony.

"During my meeting with Malika, I saw that her hands were badly cut. She said that she had done it herself. Apparently, by hurting herself, she was thus trying to control her emotions," Inara Bedoeva, the advocate, has suggested.

Malika remains in custody despite her illness, Angela Kudzieva, her mother, has complained. According to the mother, by her Instagram videos her daughter wanted to show that, having converted to Islam, a woman can remain free.

“Malika wanted to convey to the society that a woman in a hijab should not limit herself to her family and home. She should live a full life and do what she loves. Such women are of no need for many Muslim males. They are sure that a woman in hijab should be a silent performer of men's will," Ms Kudzieva has noted.