Jailed mother of Chechen human rights activists transferred to hospital

Zarema Musaeva, the jailed mother of three exiled Chechen human rights activists, has been transferred from the penal colony where she was serving her sentence to a hospital due to her deteriorating health.

Her lawyer Alexander Savin said in a statement posted by human rights organisation Crew Against Torture on Thursday that while visiting Musaeva in a penal colony in the Chechen town of Argun, he learnt that her eyesight had worsened drastically and that she had developed cataracts.

“Her vision got worse and worse, and by the time she was hospitalised, she could only see silhouettes,” Savin said.

Musaeva, 54, is a type-two diabetic who had to be prescribed new drugs because her old insulin medication had stopped working, Savin added.

Musaeva’s sons, Abubakar, Ibragim and Baisangur Yangulbaev, are known for their criticism of Kremlin-backed Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov.

In what was clearly a politically motivated act, Musaeva was charged with fraud and assaulting a police officer last year and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Her sons have repeatedly said that her health has deteriorated significantly since her imprisonment, leaving her unable to walk unassisted due to back pain. She was previously hospitalised in June.