Despite advocates' protests, Varvara Karaulova's arrest extended until May 27

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow has extended until May 27 the detention in custody for Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova), accused of attempting to join the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 28, 2015, Varvara Karaulova was arrested by the Moscow court. Later, the period of her detention was extended until March 27, 2016. Today, it has been reported that the investigation into the case against Varvara Karaulova is extended until August 23.

At the trial, the investigator has claimed that it is not possible to release the defendant or replace her pre-trial restriction measure with the one not related to the restriction of freedom, since a number of further investigative actions are to be carried out. Public prosecutor has supported the investigator's request.

The defence of the defendant states that the guilt of Varvara Karaulova is unproven. Advocate Sergey Badamshin has noted that the defence intends to challenge the investigator's request.

Gadji Aliev, another advocate of the accused student, has claimed that during the past three months, the investigators "carried out no investigative actions, except a psychiatric examination."

Earlier, on February 24, Sergey Badamshin and Gadji Aliev, advocates of Varvara Karaulova, filed an appeal to the ECtHR. In their appeal, they complained about violation of several articles of the Convention on Human Rights in the case against their client. The advocates asked the ECtHR to consider their appeal on a priority basis.

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