25 September 2020, 23:28
Chechen residents criticize conviction of Lizan Isakova's son
Lizan Isakova and her son Khazbulat were sentenced to the same punishment in a case on fraud with the status of a disabled person, although the woman's son played a secondary role in obtaining unjustified assistance from the authorities, residents of Chechnya note.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 24, a court found Lizan Isakova and her son guilty of fraud and sentenced each of them to four years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
In April 2019, Lizan Isakova appealed to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" with a request for help. The woman stated that she was paralyzed and lost her vision, but the authorities refused to resettle her from a dilapidated house. On July 3, 2019, Lizan Isakova and her son were arrested on suspicion of fraud. Video surveillance cameras installed in the apartment helped to reveal that Lizan Isakova was not a disabled person.
In their comments on Instagram, most users considered the guilt of the convicts as proven and supported the court's decision. Meanwhile, some users expressed their sympathy for the son of Lizan Isakova. Others found the punishment too harsh.
According to Adlan, an NGO employee, "there are still many questions left unanswered" in the Lizan Isakova's case. "Magomed Daudov, the speaker of the Chechen parliament, helped Lizan Isakova, like other officials, and for several years, no one seemed to notice that she was not paralyzed at all. And then all of a sudden it all came to light," Adlan said.
Let us remind you that Lizan Isakova's case became a pretext for the Chechen authorities to reproach the HRC "Memorial". Ilman Vakhidov, the first deputy director of the "Grozny" TV Channel, said that the HRC "Memorial" was aware about the Lizan Isakova's health state and used her "to denigrate the activities of the authorities." Blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov noted that Lizan Isakova got a certificate of disability from the Chechen Ministry for Public Health and suggested that the purpose of the report broadcasted by the "Grozny" TV Channel was to denigrate the HRC "Memorial".
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 25, 2020 at 11:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
