A petition has been published on the Change.org website demanding the release of Zarema Musaeva, the wife of retired federal judge Saydi Yangulbaev, who was taken from Nizhny Novgorod to Grozny by the security forces. More than 33,000 people have already signed the petition.
“We demand the authorities of the Russian Federation to release Zarema to provide her with medical assistance, as well as to provide her family and human rights activists with information about her whereabouts and well-being!”, The Committee Against Torture said in a statement.
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Human rights activists noted that Musaeva lost consciousness during the arrest, and “the Chechen police officers dragged her out of the apartment.”
The petition is addressed to Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic Ruslan Alkhanov, Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic Sharpuddi Abdul-Kadyrov, Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov.
Earlier, the European Union called on the Russian authorities to release Zarema Musayeva. The EU said that «credible reports of ongoing human rights violations in Chechnya» and «inaction by the federal authorities» were of concern.