“Novaya Gazeta Europe” reveals a scheme for initiation of cases on terrorism in Chechnya and Kuban

In Chechnya and Kuban, people arrested on administrative cases are often accused of grave crimes. After a series of arrests, law enforcers institute cases under articles on terrorism, the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta Europe” reports.

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, in January-October 2022, most terrorist crimes were registered in Dagestan and Moscow, and Chechnya and Ingushetia occupied the third and fourth places.

According to the “Novaya Gazeta Europe”, criminal cases under articles on terrorism are being considered by district military courts. Their operation is not very transparent, and none of the courts publish verdicts on terrorist articles on the official website.

The case against Zarema Musaeva is cited as an example. Many of the other “suspicious” criminal cases were heard from 2014 to 2019 in the Gudermes Court and from 2014 to 2016 in the Shali City Court, the “Novaya Gazeta Europe” reports.

Out of the 170 criminal cases instituted under the described scheme, in seven cases, people were initially arrested under administrative articles twice in a row. “Out of seven cases, four criminal cases were instituted under the article on drug trafficking, and the remaining three were initiated under the articles on theft, robbery, and brigandry,” the newspaper noted.

In particular, Romzan Askhabov, Magomed Vagapov, and Adnan Chiraev, who were detained in three criminal cases, were accused of picking cannabis leaves and storing them.

The same scheme is observed in the Krasnodar Territory. There, natives of Chechnya Yuni Murdiev and Adam Sugaipov were detained at the airport in June 2017 and charged with trying to join the “Islamic State” (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”).