16:25, 28 June 2023

Twenty-three thousand people demand to investigate Selima Ismailova’s disappearance

Selima Ismailova. Photo: https://theins.ru/news/262522

The police should report the whereabouts of Selima Ismailova, who escaped from domestic violence and was taken away from a Moscow airport by Chechen law enforcers, authors of a petition claim. They demand from the Russian Minister of Internal Affairs to take the case under his personal control and transfer the investigation into the case to Moscow.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 13, the young woman flew to Grozny, being accompanied by the law enforcers. Lawyers were unable to find her whereabouts, in particular, she was not at the police station, where she was supposed to be taken in the case on theft.

Selima Ismailova was born in Chechnya, and her family moved to Germany when she was 12 years old. She complained to the German authorities about domestic violence, but her mother put pressure on her and threatened her to retract her complaints. In 2021, the father of Selima Ismailova took her to Chechnya, after which he often beat her and threatened to kill her, the “Marem” human rights group reported. Selima Ismailova was detained on suspicion of theft, as she allegedly stole money from her female relative.

Two weeks after Selima Ismailova was taken away by the police, lawyers have no information about her whereabouts, the “Crisis Group SK SOS”* reports.

A petition has been published on the “Change.org” platform with the demand to investigate the Ismailova’s case on theft outside of Chechnya, where the trial may be biased. The authors of the petition fear that “the Chechen law enforcers forcibly handed over Selima Ismailova to her relatives, and now her life and health are in danger.”

By 7:20 p.m. Moscow time on June 27, the petition was signed by more than 23,000 people.

The authors of the petition also requested Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Russian Minister of Internal Affairs, “to take the case under his personal control and monitor the implementation of the law by Chechen policemen.”

Women whose behaviour is considered a disgrace to a clan by their relatives may become victims of “honour killings” in the Caucasus.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 27, 2023 at 07:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.