Chechen resident sentenced for trying to provide a mobile phone to members of IAF

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Isa Ersimikov to six years of imprisonment for an attempt to provide a mobile phone to members of an illegal armed formation.

According to the investigators’ version, Isa Ersimikov bought a mobile phone and a SIM card for it and put them in a hiding in Argun. In such a way, the man tried to provide means of communication for members of the illegal armed formation (IAF), the court reports on its Telegram channel.

An advocate reports that Isa Ersimikov was detained on June 17, 2020, was not informed about his right to defence, and was not provided with a defender. The defender requested the court to punish law enforcers, but a month later, the investigator issued a decision to refuse to institute a criminal case, the “Kavkaz.Realii”* reports.

In October 2020, the advocate filed a complaint to the Shali City Court with a request to recognize the investigator’s actions as illegal. The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya returned the case materials to Shali. However, the Shali City Court again dismissed the complaint.

The “Caucasian Knot” has also reported that on October 21, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Nozim Rustamov to two years of imprisonment in a penal colony after recognizing a video, posted on the Internet by Nozim Rustamov, as propaganda of terrorism.

*The publication has been included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of the foreign media, performing the functions of a foreign agent.