15:45, 30 April 2019

Zhalaudi Geriev, "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, leaves his colony in Chechnya

Zhalaudi Geriev in the courtroom. Photo by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent

Today, Zhalaudi Geriev, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, is back at large was released today after serving his three-year prison term.

He was met by his relatives and friends, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. "I feel happy," said Geriev.

In September 2016, Geriev was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of possessing marijuana. Prior to his arrest, in April 2016, he was kidnapped by armed men. They took away his backpack, in which later drugs were found. The journalist kept stating that he gave his confession testimonies during investigation under pressure.

"This is also an experience for me; but I'm not going to forget it as a bad dream, but I'll try to draw conclusions and look at life with optimism. In jail I felt free and continue feeling free now," Geriev said.

The "Caucasian Knot" treats the case against Geriev as fabricated. The Human Rights Centre "Memorial" announced Geriev to be a political prisoner; and 14 human rights and journalistic organizations condemned his prosecution.

Let us remind you that in September 2018, the court made a decision about Geriev's conditional early relief (CER), but it was appealed against by the republic's deputy prosecutor. On November 8, 2018, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya overturned the Geriev's CER decision. In the opinion of the defence, the SC had no grounds to do it.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 30, 2019 at 09:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.