After the release of Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko and the collapse of the trumped-up drug possession case against him, it might have seemed that a happy ending similar to that of Moscow journalist Ivan Golunov was repeating itself in the Caucasus.
As a reminder, he was also arrested on trumped-up charges, but after a strong reaction from the journalistic community, he was not only released, but also saw the dismissal of the law enforcement officers responsible for the fabrication.
Unfortunately, the case of Martin Kochesoko is not developing in the same way. According to his lawyer, Timur Khutov, in an interview with Novaya Gazeta journalist Ilya Azar, after the drug possession case against him collapsed, law enforcement officials began to fabricate a new extremism case against him. To this end, they began an urgent search for «witnesses» who allegedly received «extremist calls» from the Circassian activist.
Moreover, unlike the Golunov case, the case against Kochesoko has not been closed, and he remains under house arrest, with all charges against him not dropped. The law enforcement officials involved in this case have not been removed from their positions or held accountable, and continue to search for new «evidence of guilt» against Kochesoko.
The situation is even worse for one of the leading Muslim human rights defenders of our time, Dagir Khasavov. Yesterday marked one month since his arrest, and today the Moscow Appeals Court is scheduled to hold a hearing to consider whether to extend his detention or release him. Unfortunately, there is almost no doubt that the former option will be chosen, not the latter. Meanwhile, the health of this participant in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident, a person of advanced age, has deteriorated sharply in the pre-trial detention center. In particular, he suffers from wet eczema, he suffered from severe food poisoning, and his relatives do not exclude the possibility that it was intentional.
There has been no progress in the cases of Abdulmumin Gadjiev and Kemal Tambiev, and no progress is expected. But should we be surprised? The repressive mechanism is only gaining momentum, as even ordinary Russians, not only Muslims, are receiving long sentences for participating in so-called «unsanctioned rallies,» and yesterday the offices of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) were raided in 20 regions of Russia.
Against this backdrop, Golunov’s case appears to be a happy exception to the rule, largely due to the almost universal support for him and the tremendous public resonance it has generated. Muslims undoubtedly lack this level of support for their prisoners of conscience. But they also lack the understanding that even if one person is successfully defended or conditionally released, as in the case of Kochesoko, the problem is not solved. It is necessary to move from the tactic of rescuing individuals from the clutches of the system to a strategy of ending this regular and ritualized devouring of individuals in specific cases. This can only be achieved if the entire civil society, regardless of political and religious differences, unites its efforts in this regard.