Judge forbids Apti Visaev's wife to attend his trial

A court in Khabarovsk has banned Aisha Mutaeva, the wife and public defender of the Chechen-born Apti Visaev, who is accused of plotting a terror act, from attending the sessions.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in March this year Aisha Mutaeva reported that her husband's case was "unexpectedly and without explanations" transferred from Krasnoyarsk to the military court in Khabarovsk. She then complained that paying advocates' travels would hurt the family's budget.

The reason for Mutaeva's removal from the courtroom was, in the judge's opinion, in her posts in the Telegram channel with photos from the court sessions. However, she insists that she had taken no photos and videos in the courtroom, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project reports.

According to Mutaeva, she was not allowed to see her husband before his departure to the SIZO (pre-trial prison).

Let us remind you that in April Aisha Mutaeva reported that the court refused to add to the case files the results of an independent examination of the messages, which, according to investigators, Visaev had sent to the above secret witness. According to Mutaeva, the examination outcomes proved her husband's innocence.

The current prosecution of Visaev has to do with his earlier conviction for links with Chechen militants, Igor Kalyapin and Oyub Titiev, human rights defenders, believe. Visaev's defence treats the case as fabricated.