Chechnya: judges use self-withdrawal to keep away from Musaeva's case

The self-withdrawal of the third judge in the case of Zarema Musaeva indicates the unwillingness of the judiciary in Chechnya to be involved in considering the case of Musaeva, whose husband, Saidi Yangulbaev, is their former colleague, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 5, a court in Grozny extended Zarema Musaeva's arrest until September 12; she was accused of assaulting a law enforcer. Her criminal case was handed over to Judge Akhmed Bashuev, who announced his self-withdrawal on July 5. On April 19, Dmitry Gorbovtsov, Judge of the Chechen Supreme Court (SC), also took self-withdrawal in Musaeva's case, citing his friendly relations with Musaeva's husband, Saidi Yangulbaev, a former federal judge.

According to Abubakar Yangulbaev, a former lawyer of the "Committee against Torture (CaT)* and a Musaeva's son, Bashuev was the third Chechen judge who refused to participate in his mother's case.

"Apart from the above judges (Gorbovtsov and Bashuev), there is another SC judge, who had self-withdrawn. Thus, three judges have already refused to conduct any trial related to my mother's case. I believe that in fact any lawyer, having studied the case, understands that this is not about punishing the criminal, but about performing an order from above. And no one wants to be the executor of this order," Abubakar Yangulbaev has concluded.

Despite the built-in decision-making system, the human factor remains, Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, believes.

"No matter how much judges are obedient to the regime, they still remain human beings. Zarema Musaeva's husband was one of them. [Here] we have personal relationships, especially in the Caucasus. Surely one of these judges visited the Yangulbaevs. Therefore, it's hard for them, regardless of whether they are good or not. These personal relationships are the motivation for these people not to try the wife of one of them," Mr Kutaev has stated.

*The organization is on the register of NCOs performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 6, 2022 at 10:23 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.