Abdulmumin Gadjiev treats FSB letter as pressure on court

The Dagestan journalist, Abdulmumin Gadjiev, has treated the arguments of the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) in favour of his arrest extension as an attempt to influence the investigators' position.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Abdulmumin Gadjiev has been kept under the arrest since June in a case on financing of terrorism. On December 31, 2019, a Makhachkala court extended the arrest of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a journalist of the Dagestani weekly "Chernovik" (Draft), until March 13, 2020.

Human rights defenders called the case against Abdulmumin Gadjiev a threat to all journalists in Russia, and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" recognized him as a political prisoner.

On December 31, 2019, at a sitting of the Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala, the advocate, Arsen Shabanov, drew attention to the letter from the Dagestan FSB Branch, attached to the investigators' request to extend Gadjiev's arrest. The letter states that Gadjiev has extensive links among law enforcers, and, if released from arrest, he can take advantage of these links to evade liability. Mr Shabanov objected, stating that the wide circle of acquaintances among law enforcers, on the contrary, is positively characterizing his client.

Gadjiev himself said that he treated the letter as an attempt to exert pressure on the court. "In this letter, the FSB simultaneously states two things: my commitment to a terrorist organization, and my broad circle of contacts with law enforcers," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent quotes Gadjiev's words pronounced at the court session.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 1, 2020 at 03:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.