14:58, 16 March 2021

Court returns Ingush activist Zarifa Sautieva to custody

Zarifa Sautieva. Photo: http://memorymuseums.ru/seminar/2018

A Stavropol court has overturned the decision on house arrest for Zarifa Sautieva and ordered to transfer her to SIZO (pre-trial prison), her advocate, Magomed Bekov, wrote on the Facebook.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Sautieva was detained on July 12, 2019, and spent 21 months in custody. Her defence complained about pressure from law enforcers after her release. Law enforcers are seeking to return Sautieva back to SIZO by putting pressure on the owner of the apartment where the activist is kept under house arrest, said her advocate. He said that they put a bracelet on his client, but allowed her to communicate with relatives.

The case of Zarifa Sautieva and six other leaders of protests in Ingushetia accused of creating an extremist community has been considered since November 24, 2020. Almost all the figurants of the trial, including prosecution witnesses, testified in favour of the defendants. The witness, who stated that Sautieva had given instructions to protesters in Magas to resist law enforcers, incorrectly described her appearance, Djabrail Kuriev, an advocate, has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 16, 2021 at 12:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.