Ekho Moskvy: Wife of former federal judge Saydi Yangulbaev was kidnapped in Nizhny Novgorod

In Nizhny Novgorod, Zarema, the wife of former federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev, was kidnapped from her apartment, Natalia Kurekina, spokeswoman for the Committee Against Torture, a human rights organization, told Ekho Moskvy radio station.

According to her, colleagues who are now in Yangulbaev’s apartment agreed with one of the policemen that he would come out and let the investigator into the apartment to discuss what was happening. But as soon as the door opened, “7-8 strong guys” burst into the apartment. They scattered human rights activists and hit lawyer Sergei Babenets in the face, while Zarema and Saydi were severely beaten, Kurekina said. Then Zarema was “simply dragged” out of the apartment.

“They didn’t take her outerwear, they didn’t take insulin, but she is a diabetic, her life is in danger … They left by car,” Kurekina described what happened. The checkpoint staff do not know whether these people will return – already for Saydi. “So far, my collegiums, lawyer Saydi, are in his Nizhny Novgorod apartment,” she clarified and added that the CPT would most likely “submit an urgent application to the ECtHR under Rule 39.”

According to Znak.com, Babenets said that those who broke into the Yangulbaevs’ apartment spoke Chechen and introduced themselves as Chechen police officers.

It should be reminded that Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the North Caucasian branch of the “Committee against Torture”, reported earlier that his relatives were kidnapped in Chechnya. Saydi is his father.

Before the New Year, Abubakar’s apartment in Pyatigorsk was searched, and the man himself was taken for interrogation, after which he was released. The Chechen authorities suspect Abubakar of administering the popular Adat Telegram channel, which criticizes the Chechen order. In December last year, the channel was recognized by the Factory Court of Grozny as “extremist”.

*In September last year, the Soviet Court of Nizhny Novgorod fined the head of the interregional public organization “Committee against Torture” and a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia, Igor Kalyapin, 10,000 rubles. As RBC clarified, Kalyapin was found guilty under the article on participation in the activities of an undesirable organization (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The maximum punishment for an individual is a fine of up to 15,000 rubles. “I really understand perfectly why I became the object of this attack. Over the past year, I have harshly criticized both the work of the Investigative Committee and the work of the prosecutor’s office, ”Kalyapin said.

An administrative case against Kalyapin was opened at the end of July. He was accused of collaborating with the Czech non-governmental organization Man in Need (described as undesirable in Russia), Novaya Gazeta reported, citing case materials. According to the publication, the documents in the case contained screenshots of publications from the Committee against Torture website dated 2015, 2016 and 2017 with a mention of the Czech organization. However, then it was not yet recognized as undesirable, the newspaper points out.

Kalyapin, after initiating an administrative case, stated that the ultimate goal of the investigation was to initiate a criminal case against him. “I understand the ardent desire of some law enforcement officials to hold me at least some accountable,” he reported.

The “Committee against Torture”, headed by Kalyapin, was recognized by the Ministry of Justice in 2015 as an NPO acting as a foreign agent, after which the legal entity self-liquidated. In 2016, the CPT was also recognized as a foreign agent, after which human rights activists began to operate under the same name, but without forming a legal entity.