19:17, 27 March 2020

Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev left under arrest

Joint action of supporters of Abdulmumin Gadjiev and Murtazali Gasanguseinov in Makhachkala, March 16, 2020. Photo by Rasul Magomedov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan dismissed an appeal filed by the defence of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a correspondent of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), about his arrest in a case on financing of terrorism.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Abdulmumin Gadjiev, an editor of the religion department of the "Chernovik" website, who has been kept under arrest since June 2019, pleads not guilty. On March 12, the court extended his arrest until May 13. The investigators' version is based on a protocol with the confession of Kemal Tambiev, who later retracted it, Abdulmumin Gadjiev claims. A mother of the journalist complained about a ban on visits to her son.

Apart from Abdulmumin Gadjiev, Kemal Tambiev and Abubakar Rizvanov, the head of the "Ansar" charity foundation, are also involved in the case as defendants. According to investigators, Abdulmumin Gadjiev transferred money to preacher Israil Akhmednabiev (Abu Umar Sasitlinsky) to finance terrorists through charitable foundations under the pretext of building mosques and helping poor Muslims. At trial, Abdulmumin Gadjiev claimed that he had testified under torture and retracted his testimony.

It should be noted that in Makhachkala, activists hold pickets every week with the demand to stop criminal proceedings against Abdulmumin Gadjiev. The recent such protest action took place on March 23.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 27, 2020 at 02:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Ilyas Kapiev

Source: CK correspondent