Apti Visaev's wife point to inconsistencies in terror act plotting case

Apti Visaev, a native of Chechnya, arrested on charges of aiding militants, could not plan a terror act in Norilsk on the Victory Day, since all the mass events were cancelled due to the pandemic, Aisha Mutaeva, his wife, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian FSB reported on the arrest on April 22 in the Stavropol Territory of Apti Visaev, a supporter of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, who had been plotting to commit a terror act in the city of Norilsk. His wife, Aisha Mutaeva, stated the fabrication of the charges.

Visaev was detained after explosives and striking elements were found in a hideout he had equipped in the basement of one of the houses of Norilsk. Law enforcers also found instructions on how to make explosive devices and correspondence in his gadgets, indicating his attempts to persuade his acquaintances to commit an explosion in a parade convoy of the military personnel during the Victory Day.

However, on May 9 in Norilsk, all the public events were cancelled due to the pandemic; and everyone knew about it in advance, said Aisha Mutaeva, Visaev's wife, in a video posted on November 22 on the blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov's Telegram channel.

"Allegedly, my husband, through the Telegram and Instagram messengers, had persuaded some secret witness to commit a terror act by blowing himself up in the city of Norilsk in Heroes' Square ... But this could not be the case, because for the second year in a row, Norilsk has cancelled all the crowded events because of the pandemic; and restrictions were announced all over Russia. Everyone knew that there would be no parade," the wife asserts.

Aisha Mutaeva has added that her husband's advocates are not allowed to ask this secret witness questions so that his false denunciation is not revealed.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 23, 2021 at 10:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.