Chechen officials show video with Zarema Yangulbaeva

In the video clips released by Chechen authorities, Zarema Yangulbaeva, the mother of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer from the North-Caucasian branch of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), states that she is being treated well and provided with insulin injections and other necessary medicines.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, 2022, the CaT reported that Zarema Yangulbaeva, the wife of the federal judge, Saidi Yangulbaev, was abducted, in unconscious state, and taken away in cars with license plates bearing the region code corresponding to Chechnya. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has confirmed that Zarema Yangulbaeva had been taken to Grozny and stated that the woman had already "earned a criminal article for herself." The Yangulbaevs are waiting for a place "in prison or in the ground," Kadyrov has threatened.

A video of the meeting with Abubakar Yangulbaev's mother was posted on January 21 by Mansur Soltaev, the Chechen Ombudsperson in his Instagram page.

"Today (January 21) I met with Zarema Musaeva (her maiden surname), whom law enforcers had brought to testify as a witness in a fraud case. I made sure that all the norms of the law had been observed in her relation. Zarema herself said that she had received all the necessary medications, and nothing threatened her life and health," Mr Soltaev said in the caption to the video.

In the video, Soltaev asks the question: "Did they buy medicines for you along the way?" In response, Musaeva-Yangulbaeva, who is sitting on a chair, nods her head, closing her eyes, and slowly, with difficulty, says: "And they bought medicines. I injected myself and took the pills. No violence."

Another video clip showing a different fragment of the Ombudsperson's conversation with Zarema Musaeva was also posted on the grozny_inform page on the Instagram. She says in answer to Soltaev's questions that the law enforcers behaved "very well" with her.

Abubakar Yangulbaev, commenting on the videos with his mother, has noted that she is in grave condition. "I know my mother; and now in the video she is in a very grave condition and looks abnormal," The CaT quotes Abubakar as saying in its Telegram channel.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 21, 2022 at 11:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.