12 February 2022, 04:11
Prosecutor requests long terms of imprisonment for Chechen gays Magamadov and Isaev
A public prosecutor requested the court to sentence Salekh Magamadov to 8.5 years and Ismail Isaev to 6.5 years of imprisonment in a case on aiding and abetting a militant. The prosecutors’ version has not been even indirectly confirmed, and there is no evidence that the brothers were familiar with the militant, their advocate notes.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the defenders sought to transfer the case to another region, but the court refused them, and the hunger strike, which was carried out by the accused brothers with the same demand, also turned out to be in vain. A petition demanding the release of Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev gathered more than 100,000 signatures. According to the petition, the lives of the brothers are in danger. Authors of the petition called on the US President to address the Russian authorities to protect the rights of LGBT people.
The Magamadov and Isaev brothers are accused of aiding and abetting a militant from Aslan Byutukaev’s grouping. According to the investigators’ version, the brothers gave him bread, juice, tea, and chocolate. 20-year-old Salekh Magamadov and his brother were taken by law enforcers from Nizhny Novgorod to Chechnya. The brothers complained about torture and said they had been forced to sign fabricated confessions.
“The criminal prosecution of Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev is connected with their activities, criticism of the authorities, non-traditional sexual orientation and views, since they are atheists," said advocate Alexander Nemov. He notes that none of the above “is a criminal offense in Russia.”
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 11, 2022 at 07:41 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
