Lawyers doubt prospects for examination in case on Madina Umaeva's death

In Chechnya, human rights defenders and lawyers suggest that public officers may affect the forensic examination in the case on the resonant death of Madina Umaeva, a resident of Gudermes.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that on June 12, Madina, a 23-year-old mother of three children, died in a house of her husband and his parents. In contradiction to Islamic traditions, the woman was buried at night. After social networks disseminated reports that the young woman had fallen victim to domestic violence, her mother succeeded in seeking exhumation of her daughter's body and attended the procedure. Without waiting for the results of the forensic examination, the leader of Chechnya met the mother and the husband of the deceased woman, as well as her other relatives. The mother of the deceased young woman apologized for the statement about the violent death of her daughter.

Human rights defenders from Russia and other countries appeals to Alexander Bastrykin, the director of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), with a request to collect the materials in the case on the death of Madina Umaeva, a resident of Gudermes, from the Chechen law enforcement bodies and take personal control over the investigation into the case. In their appeal, the human rights defenders claim that in Chechnya, investigators are subjected to pressure from the executive branch.

The appeal to the ICRF's director was signed by heads of human rights and public organizations, including the "Amnesty International" (AI), the "Human Rights Watch" (HRW), the "Civic Assistance Committee", the "Memorial", the "Legal Initiative" and others, the "Dozhd" (Rain) TV Channel reports.

Lawyer Maxim Pashkov suggests that given the public outcry, it "would be logical" to transfer the case on the death of the woman from Gudermes to the ICRF.

Meanwhile, Magomed Alamov, an employee of the North-Caucasian branch of the "Committee Against Torture" (CaT), doubts that the director of the ICRF will grant the request of the human rights defenders who signed the appeal concerning the investigation into the case on the Madina Umaeva's death. "If there is any hope, it is very weak," Magomed Alamov believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 9, 2020 at 12:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.