01 January 2024, 16:22
Ingush native Leyla Gatagazheva accused of having connections with militants placed under house arrest
The defence convinced a court in Malgobek to release from custody Leila Gatagazheva, a native of Ingushetia, accused of having connections in Syria with militants of the “Islamic State” (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”).
On June 18, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported that Leyla Gatagazheva had been extradited from Iraq. The woman has already served five years in an Iraqi prison, reported the defence, seeking to have the criminal case closed.
The “Memorial” Centre for Defence of Human Rights reports that investigator argued that, once free, Leila Gatagazheva could hide and put pressure on witnesses.
In turn, advocate Ramina Labazanova said that her client did not have not only a foreign passport, but even an ordinary civil passport.
“Hearing the court’s ruling, Leila Gatagazheva burst into tears. For the first time in the last 6.5 years, she will spend the night outside of a cell,” the report says.
Leila Gatagazheva, born in 2001, is a mother of two children, and she is accused of aiding and abetting terrorist activities and participating in an illegal armed formation (IAF) in Syria.
In 2014, Leila Gatagazheva’s mother and her children left for Syria from Ingushetia. There, Leila was forcibly married when she was 13 years old. In 2017, her husband was killed, and she stayed at the age of 16 with two children and a mother of her killed husband. Leila Gatagazheva surrendered to the authorities of Iraq. The mother of her killed husband died in prison. Leila herself was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, and her children lived together with her in prison.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 30, 2023 at 05:33 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
