Abubakar Yangulbaev appeals to Bastrykin

On February 5, Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT)*, sent an application to Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). Abubakar has asked to check the threats against his family pronounced by Chechen leaders for the presence of death threats, incitement of hatred and enmity, solicitation, slander, insults and abuse of power.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, Zarema Musaeva, the wife of Saidi Yangulbaev, a retired Russian federal judge, was forcibly taken away by Chechen law enforcers to Grozny from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod, after which Ramzan Kadyrov said that the Yangulbaevs should find their place "either in jail or under the ground."

Abubakar Yangulbaev has informed in his Telegram channel that with the aim to restore the constitutional order in Chechnya, he had sent an application to Alexander Bastrykin, the ICRF head.

"A number of Chechen officials, headed by Ramzan Kadyrov, threaten me and my family with murder, incite hatred and enmity towards us, and solicit people to commit murder. It's all done through the use of their official powers. These offenses are obvious," says Abubakar's message.

In his application to Bastrykin, Abubakar Yangulbaev pointed out that the statements of the Chechen leadership contained signs of death threats, incitement of hatred and enmity, solicitation, slander, insults and abuse of power. He has called on Alexander Bastrykin "to check the statements and appeals of these people and, if signs of a crime are established, to initiate a criminal case," says the application.

* 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.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 5, 2022 at 03:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.