The Shali City Court in Chechnya denied 57-year-old Zarema Musayeva parole. According to lawyer Alexander Savin, the out-of-court hearing took place in the settlement colony where Musayeva is being held and lasted two days. The prosecutor asked that parole be denied, and the court upheld that request, but did not state the reasons for the decision.
Savin said that the defense considers the materials sufficient to apply the parole procedure to Musayeva and is waiting for the full text of the ruling in order to appeal it. Human rights activists from Memorial recognized Musayeva as a political prisoner. They have repeatedly pointed to her chronic illnesses, including insulin-dependent diabetes.
According to human rights activists, Musayeva's condition worsened in detention, she has difficulty moving and needs regular medical care. In 2022, she was abducted from Nizhny Novgorod, where she lived with her husband, a former federal judge. In 2023, Musayeva was sentenced to her first term for attacking a police officer, and the defense insisted that the charges were unfounded.
When that term was nearing its end, a new case was opened against her — alleging that she had struck an FSIN officer during a trip to the hospital. Last August, she was sentenced on this charge to 3 years and 11 months in a settlement colony, and then the term was reduced by one month. In her final statement, Musayeva did not admit guilt and said that she had not committed a crime and that the victim was herself. In July, the Supreme Court of Chechnya refused to alter the sentence, and in June Musayeva's daughter publicly appealed to the daughter of the head of Chechnya, Aishat Kadyrova, asking for help in securing her mother's release, but received no response.
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