Yangulbaev responds to Kadyrov’s accusations of supporting terrorism

Human rights defender Abubakar Yangulbaev responded from Georgia to the leader of Chechnya to accusations that the Yangulbaev family allegedly supported terrorism. Abubakar Yangulbaev called the kidnapping of his elderly mother by Chechen law enforcers an act of terrorism.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on January 22, the leader of Chechnya accused the Yangulbaev family of supporting terrorism and called on the law enforcement bodies to detain and punish the entire family. Zarema Musaeva, a spouse of Saidi Yangulbaev, was kidnapped by Chechen law enforcers.

A video recorded by Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the North-Caucasian branch of the “Committee Against Torture”*, was posted on Facebook by the Georgian publication “Publika”. The lawyer said that his confrontation with Ramzan Kadyrov had been going on since 2015. “In 2017, we left Chechnya for Nizhny Novgorod, because we were in danger. Ramzan Kadyrov told us personally that he would kill us. We left, but he did not leave us,” Abubakar Yangulbaev said.

The lawyer emphasized that his sick mother was charged with attacking law enforcers and placed to a special detention centre. “She suffers from diabetes, she is a helpless woman, but Ramzan Kadyrov accuses her of attacking healthy armed Kadyrov’s fighters,” said Abubakar Yangulbaev.

The human rights defender believes it is impossible to ensure the safety of Zarema Musaeva while she stays in Chechnya.

* The “Committee Against Torture” (CaT) was included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs-foreign agents in 2015. In this regard, leaders liquidated the organization and created a new legal entity: the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture”, which was also included in the list of foreign agents, and the organization was closed. At present, the “Committee Against Torture” operates as an unregistered public association.