Bar Chamber claims rights violation of Zarema Musaeva's advocate

Chechen law enforcers violated the rights of the lawyer, Natalia Dobronravova, who was present at the Yangulbaevs' apartment in Nizhny Novgorod, when law enforcers broke into it, the Bar Chamber of the Nizhny Novgorod Region has concluded.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, Chechen law enforcers forced Zarema Musaeva to Chechnya from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod. At the same time, Zarema's husband, Saidi Yangulbaev, the lawyer, Natalia Dobronravova, who cooperates with the "Committee against Torture" (CaT)*, and another CaT's lawyer, Sergey Babinets, were beaten up.

After what happened in the Yangulbaevs' apartment, Natalia Dobronravova recorded her injuries at the trauma centre and sent an application to the Nizhny Novgorod Bar Chamber. The commission for the defence of lawyers' rights has considered her application; its members unanimously found a violation of the lawyer's professional rights, the "Lawyers' Street" project has reported.

The commission's decision states that Dobronravova had the right to be present at the enforcement of her client's forced delivery. However, Chechen operative agents used force against the advocate, which violated several articles of the Constitution and Article 18 of the Law on the Bar, reading: "It is forbidden to interfere in the lawyers' activities or obstruct these activities." The law enforcers' actions have attributes of a criminally punishable act, in connection with which the Bar intends to apply to the Investigating Committee and the Prosecutor's Office.

* The “Committee Against Torture” (CaT) was included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs-foreign agents in 2015. In this regard, leaders liquidated the organization and created a new legal entity: the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture”, which was also included in the list of foreign agents, and the organization was closed. At present, the “Committee Against Torture” operates as an unregistered public association.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 4, 2022 at 06:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.