Veteran reporter Elena Milashina to travel to Grozny again, two months after violent attack in Chechnya left her with multiple injuries

Elena Milashina, a veteran reporter who writes for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, is determined to travel to Grozny for the appeal hearing on the case of Zarema Musayeva.

Two months ago, Milashina tried to attend the final hearing on Musayeva’s original case, when she and the attorney Alexander Nemov, who was with her, came under a violent attack in Grozny. Masked assailants beat both of them with batons, kicked them, poured green dye over their faces and bodies, and shaved Milashina’s hair off her head. On returning to Moscow, the reporter was diagnosed with a concussion, multiple fractures, and other injuries. Nemov had a stabbed wound and multiple bruising.

Zarema Musayeva is the wife of a retired Chechen Supreme Court judge Saidi Yangulbayev. Their three sons, Abubakar, Ibragim, and Baisangur Yangulbayev, are all prominent human rights activists and critics of Ramzan Kadyrov’s government.

After being abducted in Russia and put on trial in Chechnya, Musayeva was sentenced to 5.5 years in a penal colony in July 2023. The court found her guilty of fraud and using violence against a policeman.

The Committee Against Torture, a Russian human rights NGO, insists that Musayeva is completely innocent, and that her chronic medical conditions are incompatible with serving time in prison.

The appeal hearing is scheduled to take place at the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic on September 12.