Musaeva's sentence challenged at Cassation Court

Alexander Savin, an advocate from the "Team Against Torture" (TaT)* has asked the Court of Cassation in Pyatigorsk to overturn the sentence passed on Zarema Musaeva in Chechnya due to the unjustified charges and violations of the laws.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 12, 2023, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya reduced Zarema Musaeva's freedom deprivation term down to five years and replaced the general regime colony for a settlement one. As a result, Musaeva has the right to recalculate the time served by her at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and apply for the conditional early relief (CER). On October 4, Abubakar Yangulbaev, one of Zarema's sons, reported that the advocate hired by the family had submitted a petition for the CER to the court. On October 19, the TaT* reported that Alexander Savin, the advocate, had sent a respective petition to the court. Mr Savin has added that Musaeva had rejected the services of other advocates. According to Abubakar Yangulbaev, the CER petitions filed by the advocate he hired have the same force as the Savin's ones.

Alexander Savin has lodged a complaint to the Fifth Court of Cassation with a request to cancel the verdict passed by the Akhmatovsky District Court due to significant violations of the law, the TaT* has reported.

"The proofs used by the prosecution failed to confirm Musaeva's guilt. For example, these are expert's opinions or the contradictory witnesses' testimonies about Musaeva's attack on a policeman," the TaT's* Telegram channel quotes Mr Savin as saying.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 3, Abubakar Yangulbaev stated that the TaT* (which he called the "Committee against Torture"*) was no longer involved in his mother's case.

*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.