Rights defenders demand to protect judge's family from Chechen law enforcers

The authorities of Chechnya have made kidnappings of the relatives of their opponents a constant practice, but the abduction of Zarema Yangulbaeva is something special, since she is the wife of a retired judge. Federal authorities must interfere, the human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, 2022, the CaT reported that Zarema Yangulbaeva, the wife of the federal judge, Saidi Yangulbaev, was abducted, in unconscious state, and taken away in cars with license plates bearing the region code corresponding to Chechnya. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has confirmed that Zarema Yangulbaeva had been taken to Grozny and stated that the woman had already "earned a criminal article for herself." The Yangulbaevs are waiting for a place "in prison or in the ground," Kadyrov has threatened.

In Russia, Chechen law enforcers have brought such incidents like the abduction of Zarema Yangulbaeva to the systematic level, Igor Kalyapin, the head of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT)*, has stated. He has suggested that Yangulbaeva's violent abduction could formally meet the requirements of the law, given the documents available for this, but the grounds for enforcing this were unjustified.

From Chechen law enforcers' viewpoint, the detention of the mother of an opponent of Chechen authorities is the most painful and efficient means of pressure on Ibragim Yangulbaev, Mr Kalyapin has noted. "For any person, especially for a Caucasian, mother is the most sacred person. Ibragim is somewhere abroad in safety, but his mother was brought to Chechnya; and it's not clear what will happen to her there," Igor Kalyapin has emphasized.

He has also suggested that Chechen authorities could easily disregard the status of the judge, Saidi Yangulbaev, since he also was critical of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. "Let's be frank, in this case, like in many others, we see the same thing – Kadyrov has an absolute carte blanche to commit any actions against Chechens," the human rights defender has concluded.

According to Evgeny Chernousov, a lawyer and a retired law enforcer, the status of a federal judge of the head of the Yangulbaev family and a broad public outcry in media should cause close attention to what has happened of the heads of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO).

"Federal authorities must show that they will not admit such cases associated with some kind of danger to the judge or his family members," Mr Chernousov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

*The organization has been put by the Russian Ministry of Justice on the register of the non-commercial organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 22, 2022 at 02:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.