“Ramzan put his feet on his neck.” Judge Yangulbaev’s sons said they were tortured with their father at Kadyrov’s residence

Chechen blogger Ibragim Yangulbaev, known for his sharp criticism of the Chechen authorities, in an interview with Dozhd TV channel declaredthat in 2015, together with his father and brother, he was kidnapped and tortured at the residence of Ramzan Kadyrov, and Kadyrov personally participated in the torture.

According to Ibragim Yangulbaev, the three of them were tortured and beaten for criticizing the authorities: “Personally, Kadyrov tortured me, tortured and beat my father, my older brother.” Ibragim Yangulbaev said that later his brother and father were released, and he himself was taken to the Terek SOBR (now the Akhmat SOBR), where they continued to mock, after which they kept him in the basement for six months.

Ibrahim Yangulbaev informed about this and on his Instagram account: “I was kidnapped, my father was kidnapped, my older brother Abubakar was also kidnapped. We were tortured in the residence and tried to get me to apologize and stop my activities. They threw me into the basement, kept me there for six months, no one knew that I was alive or dead.

Retired federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev, father of Ibragim Yangulbaev, also told publication Znak.com about what happened at the residence of Kadyrov: “Abubakar and I [старшим сыном] they were taken there first. They started beating Ibragim while we were still there, then continued when we were released. Abubakar Ibrahim tried to cover himself up, they also started beating him. Then I could not stand it already, pounced on them. I say to Ramzan: “What are you doing at all ?!” I got hit too. Then he said it [Ибрагима] leave them here [Сайди и Абубакара] send home. ⟨…⟩ According to Ibragim, Ramzan beat him, stood with his feet on his neck. Lord beat – Daudov ⟨Magomed Daudov, nicknamed Lord – Chairman of the Parliament of Chechnya>… Yes, everything, in short.

Ibragim Yangulbayev’s elder brother Abubakar, a human rights activist and ex-head of the Committee Against Torture, also mentioned torture at Kadyrov’s residence in an interview with Znak.com: [похищение матери] definitely connected with my activities, with the position of our family. Because we do not like Kadyrov’s government, we criticize it and are not ashamed of it. In 2015, I, my father, and Ibragim were abducted personally on the orders of Kadyrov and taken to his residence. And there we were tortured. All this was because we criticize the government.”

Former head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov commented the abduction of the wife of a federal judge, Saydi Yangulbayev, and the mother of Abubakar and Ibragim Yangulbayev. According to Kadyrov, Zarema Musaeva will face either jail for assaulting a police officer or death. He promises the same fate to the entire Yangulbaev family.

Recall that on January 20 in Nizhny Novgorod, Chechen police officers broke into the apartment of federal judge Saydi Yangulbaev, the father of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a former employee of the Committee against Torture. They could not kidnap Saydi Yangulbaev himself, since he has a judicial immunity status, but they took away his wife Zarema Musaeva. The pretext for the abduction was that she was allegedly a witness in a fraud case in Grozny, where they were going to take her by force. Musayeva is sick with coronavirus, and besides, she has diabetes. She is dependent on insulin, which she was not allowed to take with her. Her family fears that she may die along the way. As she was being dragged up the stairs, she lost consciousness. Since the evening of January 20, nothing is known about her whereabouts.

The police and the FSB officers of Nizhny Novgorod did not react in any way to the requests of Musaeva’s relatives for help and the allegations of the abduction. The Kremlin said it was not aware of the details of the abduction and preferred not to believe it.

The “Committee against Torture” filed an urgent complaint with the ECtHR under rule 39 in connection with the kidnapping of Musayeva. Rule 39 – “fast legal aid” from the ECtHR. It applies if there is a threat to life or harm to human health, and all national remedies have been exhausted.