Updated 22:09. Explanations of lawyer Natalya Dobronravova, who witnessed the attempted kidnapping of Judge Yangulbaev, beating and taking his wife Zarema out of an apartment in Nizhny Novgorod, were added. The Main Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region of the Federal Security Service for the Nizhny Novgorod Region is attempting to kidnap a federal judge with current status Saidi Vakhaevich Yangulbaev, his wife Zarema and daughter Aliya.
Federal Judge Saydi Yangulbaev (right) and operative officer of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Chechen Republic Adam Madigov (hooded) are the only ones who showed their ID. On the right is lawyer Natalia Dobronravova
Severely ill (diabetic) Zarema was subjected to physical force, and the lawyer of the Yangulbaev family, Natalya Dobronravova, also reports the beating.
Physical violence is carried out by representatives of the Chechen Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Grozny.
Only one of the Chechens who broke into the judge's apartment showed his documents. It was an operative officer of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Chechen Republic Adam Madigov.
The day before, Chechen police officers arrived in Nizhny Novgorod with a decision to forcibly bring Saydi Yangulbaev and his wife for questioning as witnesses in a fraud case, which is being processed by the investigator of the Investigative Committee for Chechnya.
This decision does not take into account the status of the federal judge Yangulbaev, which actually makes it illegal. In addition, neither he nor his wife had previously received summons for interrogation, and they cannot explain anything in this case, in which they were made witnesses only on a formal occasion — to be taken to Grozny.
updated< h3>“I, as a person who was standing right at the door, got it right in the eye”
The testimony of lawyer Natalya Dobronravova, who witnessed an attempt to kidnap Judge Yangulbaev and take his wife to an unknown direction and most affected by the actions, presumably, of the Chechen security forces.
— I arrived at the place of residence of the federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev at about 5 pm. Near the house, I noticed two Mercedes cars with Chechen numbers — B666 EC 126 and EKH 068 95, both cars had tinted windows (banned in Chechnya by order of the head of the region Kadyrov — E.M.). At the entrance I saw at least four people of Chechen nationality, I realized that they were Chechens, since I have been working in Chechnya for a long time. They were all wearing hoods and medical masks.
I went up to the 7th floor, there were six more people standing there, all of them were in masks and in civilian clothes. I introduced myself and asked who they were and why they were there. They refused to introduce themselves, but at the same time they “punched me”. That is, they called Chechnya and spoke the Chechen language, after which they told me that «they know very well who I am.» They explained that they had a decision to forcibly bring Saydi Yangulbayev and his wife Zarema for questioning as witnesses in the city of Grozny. They refused to show me the order.
I said that the decision is illegal, since Saydi Yangulbaev is an acting federal judge and any investigative actions with him are possible only with the approval of the Prosecutor General's Office and the High Qualifications Board of Judges of the Russian Federation. They did not believe me, but again they began to «punch» this information — they contacted someone in Chechnya and after a conversation in the Chechen language, in which the words «Yangulbaev», «judge», «special subject» sounded, they admitted that it was really so, that is, that they are acting illegally at the moment.
Another person turned out to be Russian.
As I understand it, this is an operational officer of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Nizhny Novgorod (he refused to introduce himself and show his identity), as he told me that «all my leadership of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Nizhny Novgorod is fully aware of this situation.» That is, from his words, I understood that the leadership of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Nizhny Novgorod was “fully aware of the situation”,that the Chechen policemen are trying to illegally bring an acting federal judge to Chechnya and have provided the Chechen policemen with all kinds of assistance.
Then two more police officers arrived. As I understand it, they were called by the duty officer of the FSB in the Nizhny Novgorod region (Saidi Yangulbaev called the FSB and said that a crime was being committed against him and his family, in particular, unknown people were trying to break into his home with the aim of kidnapping him, his wife and his daughter From the call of the Novaya Gazeta correspondent to the Federal Security Service of the Nizhny Novgorod region, it became clear that the duty officer did not believe the federal judge, however, he called the police). The policemen, who arrived at the place on the call of the FSB, found out the identity of the people in the entrance of the house and said that “they themselves will not be able to deal with this situation and let the leadership of the police hotel where they work deal with this (7th police department in Nizhny Novgorod — E. M.)». They contacted by radio with someone from the authorities, they said that someone from the authorities would drive up now, and they themselves left. No one from the 7th police department came to the place.
Together with the police officers, human rights activists of the NGO «Committee against Torture» and lawyer Natalya Dobronravova, who arrived at the call of the FSB, one of the Chechen police officers entered the apartment of Saydi Yangulbaev. He is the only one who introduced himself: police major, employee of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Grozny Adam Madigov. He also showed the decision of the investigator of the SU GU MVD B.Z. Khusainov, who issued the decision on forced arrest.
It immediately became clear to me that this decision was a fiction,since the Yangulbaevs were made “witnesses” in the fraud case that was initiated in 2019 (and they have not lived in Chechnya since 2017), the decision does not indicate for what reason they were recognized as witnesses in this case, the decision was marked allegedly repeatedly sent subpoenas to appear for interrogation in a city that does not exist in the Lower Region. In addition, the investigator could not help but know that he was trying to forcibly bring a federal judge for questioning, to which he had no right.
While the policemen called by the FSB in the Nizhny Novgorod region were on the spot, the Chechen policemen behaved calmly . But as soon as the police officers left, about 8 people broke into the apartment where the federal judge lives. I, as a person who was standing directly at the door, got it right in the eye. The human rights activists of the “Committee against Torture” were forcibly pushed and locked in one of the rooms. Four people broke into the room where the judge and his wife were and began to drag Zarema out of the apartment by force.
In the process of beating The 59-year-old woman lost consciousness. She was dragged down the stairs like a sack of potatoes, she was wearing a light dress and slippers on her bare feet (the air temperature in Nizhny Novgorod is minus 10 degrees — E.M.). Her medicines (Zarema is an insulin-dependent diabetic) were left at home, as were her documents.
Judge Saydi Yangulbaev, who was trying to defend his wife, was hit in the face, and his daughter Aliya was also beaten.
At the time of the beating, I got through to the duty investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Nizhny Novgorod Region. He heard the desperate cries of Zarema and her daughter Aliya, he heard the Chechen police officers yelling and cursing. He said that an on-duty investigative team would arrive at the scene, however, more than an hour had passed, and no one had come yet.
Natalya Dobronravova, lawyer. Photo: Arden Arkman/Novaya Gazeta
In December last year, relatives of the Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, his mother-in-law and elderly grandmother, were brought to Grozny under the same scheme wives. Both women, according to Abdurakhmanov, were illegally imprisoned in the Chechen Republic and kept in a secret prison for several weeks.
Saydi and Zarema Yangulbaev are the parents of a Chechen blogger Ibragim Yanglubaev, whom the Chechen authorities suspect of running the popular telegram channel Adat. In December last year, this channel, which publishes criticism of the Chechen order, was recognized as «extremist» by the Zavodsky Court of Grozny.
In connection with an attempt to illegally take a federal judge and his wife to Chechnya, Saidi Yangulbaev turned to the Federal Security Service for Nizhny Novgorod.
The FSB did not believe the Chechen that he was a federal judge and refused to intervene in this situation.
However, the police called to the house where the judge lives with his family. This police detachment called the leadership of the 7th department for the Sovetsky District of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Nizhny Novgorod, and with the participation of these police officers, Zarema Musaeva, the wife of Saydi Yangulbaev, was forcibly handed over to the Chechen police.
At the moment she is being taken to Chechnya. They did not dare touch the judge himself (because of his status as a judge, which allows any investigative actions only with the permission of the Prosecutor General's Office and the High Qualifications Board of Judges of the Russian Federation). However, in an attempt to stop the physical violence against his wife and her abduction, he was injured.
The FSB officer on duty in Nizhny Novgorod, who was contacted by Novaya Gazeta and who refused to introduce himself, said: “This cannot be.” .
