The imprisoned mother of a prominent critic of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has seen a dramatic deterioration of her health in recent weeks, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Zarema Musaeva, the mother of activist Abubakar Yangulbaev and the wife of a retired federal judge, was initially sentenced last summer to five and a half years in prison on charges of fraud and assaulting police.
Her sentence was later reduced by six months due to her chronic diabetes, allowing her transfer from a penal colony to a prison settlement, where inmates have more freedom under guarded supervision.
Musaeva’s lawyer, Alexander Savin, said her blood sugar “is approaching a critical mark” after weeks of increasing, according to the human rights NGO Crew Against Torture. Savin noted that prison staff had requested her hospitalization, but “there has been no response.”
“Zarema has now restricted her food intake to prevent a further rise in sugar levels,” the lawyer said.
Musaeva’s parole hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed for a month due to the victim not being notified, Savin said. Musaeva is scheduled for release next March, according to Crew Against Torture
The European Court of Human Rights had earlier ordered Russia to pay damages to Musaeva and her family over her “arbitrary” arrest, which was widely seen as retribution for the political activism of her three sons — Abubakar, Baysangur, and Ibragim Yangulbaev — who are all vocal critics of Kadyrov.
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