Six residents of Chechnya arrested on suspicion of trying to go to Syrian war

Young people from Shelkovskoy District, detained at the Russian border on suspicion of trying to go to Syria to participate in the warfare, became figurants of criminal cases about participation in illegal armed formations (IAFs).

According to law enforcers of Chechnya, last week, residents of the village of Kargalinskaya, all aged 20-25 years, together with the two young women, one of which is pregnant, and the other is the mother of a one-year-old baby, left the republic for Syria with the aim to join militants of the "Islamic State" (recognized in many countries, including Russia, as a terrorist organization, – note of the "Caucasian Knot").

According to the spokesman of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the young people were detained after their parents turned to the ROVD (District Interior Division), suggesting that their children could leave for Syria.

On August 31, criminal cases were opened against the young men and the wife of one of them; under the court ruling all of them were put into custody.

Their relatives say they did not expect such a tough reaction of law enforcers. "We turned to the police not to let our children go to war. They were detained before they left Russia. What was the need to put them in jail and open criminal cases? After all, none of them was in Syria. It's unfair," a close relative of one of the detainees told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.