Court commutes Zarema Musaeva's verdict

The Cassation Court in Pyatigorsk has satisfying the prosecutor's request and reduced Zarema Musaeva's custody term by three months, down to four years and nine months. The defence's arguments that there are no proofs of Musaeva's guilt in the case were ignored.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 3, 2023, an advocate from the "Team against Torture" (TaT)* asked the Cassation Court in Pyatigorsk to overturn Musaeva's sentence due to the unjustified charges and violations of the laws. On February 17, 2024, it became known that she would be transferred to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Grozny so that she could take part in a hearing on March 5 via video link, when her appeal against the verdict would be considered.

Alexander Savin, an advocate, said that Musaeva's health condition is the same, without improvement. He has noted that she needed "good medical rehabilitation."

The advocate has reminded that under the article on committing a fraud in witnesses' testimonies there is not a word about Musaeva. Azimova, with whom Musaeva had allegedly carried out the fraudulent scheme, had acted independently. The only witness who spoke about Musaeva at the fraud trial admitted that he had depended on her financially.

"She is a seriously ill person with chronic diseases. We expected that the sentence would be cancelled," the advocate has explained.

*The "Team against Torture" (TaT, formerly the "Committee against Torture" – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.