by Vladimir Rozanskij

The mother of two Chechen dissidents who fled abroad was abducted in 2022 by the security forces whilst at her home in central Russia and taken to Grozny, where she remains in prison. Now her daughter Aliya has appealed to Ajšat Kadyrova, former Minister of Culture and Social Affairs, in a last-ditch effort to secure her release.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – Aliya Yangulbaeva, the daughter of Zarema Musaeva – mother of two dissident sons who have fled abroad and who has been detained in a Chechen penal colony for five years, despite her serious health condition – has appealed to Ajšat Kadyrova, the daughter of the head of the Caucasian republic of Chechnya.

Ajšat is 27 years old and previously held the post of Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, but in February last year she announced her resignation, stating that she believed the role was more suited to a man.

She is known, amongst other things, for being the owner of the Firdaws brand, and has also been linked to attempts by the Chechen authorities to regulate private businesses in the cosmetics and women’s clothing sectors.

In January 2022, Chechen security forces abducted Musaeva from her flat in Nizhny Novgorod, in central Russia, and forcibly took her to Grozny on the pretext of questioning her as a witness.

She was arrested and detained for 15 days on charges of insulting a police officer, and criminal proceedings were subsequently opened against her for using violence against a government official.

Charges of fraud were later added, and, as her first sentence was about to end, charges of assaulting an officer of the Federal Security Service were also brought – all charges which Zarema denies.

Kadyrov claimed that Musaeva had been “taken away” because her entire family was “engaging in hostile activity on social media”.

The Chechen leader has repeatedly threatened the Yangulbaev family: in a video message, he stated in no uncertain terms that “their place awaits them, either in prison or six feet under”.

Saidi Yangulbaev and his daughter Aliya subsequently left Russia in 2022, and their children are also now abroad.

Zarema Musaeva’s health has deteriorated significantly during her years in prison; her family has previously attempted to secure her release, without success.

In an interview with Kavkaz.Realii, Aliya Yangulbaeva emphasised that her open letter to Ajšat Kadyrova is not motivated by political reasons, but by the hope of seizing every opportunity to secure her mother’s release.

According to her, during the years of her mother’s imprisonment, the family has tried various legal avenues, but none have led to concrete results.

“Mum has never come home, and today I am simply seizing every opportunity to make my voice heard. If there is even the slightest chance that my appeal might help bring her release closer, I feel I must seize it,” says Aliya.

Commenting on her sister’s decision to approach Kadyrova, lawyer and human rights activist Abubakar Yangulbaev points out that “virtually all available avenues have been exhausted: reports to the police, media campaigns and appeals directed at politicians and public figures”.

When one approach fails, Yangulbaev continues, one must seek another; his sister has found in the Chechen leader’s daughter the most active and effective figure in terms of resolving the conflict.

Furthermore, she is the eldest daughter in the family, which gives her authority over her father. Fatima Gazieva, a Chechen human rights activist living in Belgium, also believes that this move indicates the family’s determination to utilise absolutely every resource at their disposal: “When legal mechanisms for protection and the fair assessment of complaints fail, people turn to those who hold public authority, influence or proximity to decision-making centres”, a gesture of desperation, as Musaeva’s daughter is turning to Kadyrov’s daughter not because she believes she can actually intervene, but because she is trying to reach someone who can influence the situation.

The Chechen human rights ombudsman, Mansur Soltaev, recently stated that “women in the North Caucasus enjoy special protection and occupy a high position in society”.

He dismisses human rights activists’ allegations of abductions, torture, secret prisons, forced deportations to the war in Ukraine and “honour killings” as “provocations”.

Zarema Musaeva’s situation is clear evidence of the hypocrisy of Chechnya’s leadership, who commit all manner of abuses with the Kremlin’s blessing.

Photo: Committee Against Torture

• Chiave: Russia
• Chechnya
• Kadyrov
• Musaeva