25 October 2023, 18:43
Lawyer faces direct threat to his life in Ingushetia for helping domestic violence victim
Relatives of a girl from Ingushetia, who had fled from domestic violence, are holding Magomed Alamov, a human rights defender, and threaten to kill him, blaming him of organizing the girl's escape.
On October 5, the 28-year-old Marina Yandieva escaped from home with the help of the SK SOS Crisis Group*; a part of the way she was accompanied by Magomed Alamov, a lawyer from the "Team against Torture" (TaT)**. However, he did not know Yandieva and was not aware of the situation.
On October 11, employees of the Ingush centre for countering extremism began calling Alamov. They demanded from him to appear for questioning in connection with his involvement in Yandieva's disappearance; the girl was put on the wanted list as a missing person.
According to human rights defenders, three days later Chechen law enforcers kidnapped Alamov's brother; they threatened him and demanded to contact Alamov and convince him to return to Chechnya. Law enforcers accused Alamov of collaborating with the SK SOS Crisis Group*.
On October 20, it became known that policemen from Ingushetia demand to detain Marina Yandieva within the case of a theft, a complaint about which was filed by her relatives.
According to Alamov, he was given the condition that Yandieva should return home within a week, otherwise he will be killed.
The pressure on Alamov occurs with the support of law enforcement bodies; he is a hostage of the situation. Yandieva's relatives are high-ranking people in Ingushetia, the TaT* has emphasized. Human rights defenders have demanded from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Prosecutor's Office to ensure Alamov's and his family's safety.
According to Marina Yandieva, she been had subjected to domestic violence. In 2016, she tried to escape to Moscow, but she was tracked down, beaten up and returned home. After that, she lived in isolation for three years; her relatives threatened her with honour killing.
*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.
**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.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 24, 2023 at 01:33 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
