Leila Gatagazheva's defence treats her return to SIZO as unjustified cruelty

Leila Gatagazheva, who has been returned from house arrest to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) for the second time in a row, needs medical treatment; her health was undermined back in the Iraqi prison, her relative and advocates assert. Her defence has emphasized that the inquiry into Gatagazheva's case is over; and there are no proofs of her guilt in the case materials.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this February, investigators excluded the article on aiding terrorist activities from the indictment against Leila Gatagazheva, a native of Ingushetia; now she is accused only of taking part in an illegal armed formation (IAF). On April 27, the court decided to transfer her to house arrest. However, on May 14, the Supreme Court (SC) of Ingushetia upheld the prosecutor's protest against the above mitigation of Gatagazheva's freedom restriction measure and ruled to return her to the SIZO for the second time.

After the mitigation of Leila's punishment, prior to her return to the SIZO on May 14, she stayed at home for only two weeks, Alaudi Musaev, her advocate, has explained.

"Gatagazheva has never been to Syria ... According to the Iraqi law, she was tried precisely for being the wife of an ISIL* member; gave birth to two children; she made laundry and cooked for her husband, but according to the Russian law it is impossible to convict her for doing this. By the way, neither the Iraqi courts, Neither the Russian ones have passed a sentence on Gatagazheva's husband to treat him as an ISIL* member," Mr Musaev has stated, adding that Leila was under 14, when her relatives married her off, "essentially putting her into slavery." At the age of 14, she gave birth to her first child, at 15, to her second one; she had no chances to go anywhere. The advocate has complained that the court is primarily inclined to evaluate the article of the charge than the proofs of one's involvement in the inducted crime.

Gatagazheva spent six years in an Iraqi prison and almost nine months in Russian custody; her health is severely damaged; and she needs medical care, Ramina Labazanova, another Leila's advocate, has stated.

*On December 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL or IS) as a terrorist international organization and banned its activities in Russia.