The deputy asked Bastrykin to intervene in Mintsayeva's fate.
The Investigative Committee must verify the grounds for Belkisa Mintsayeva's detention in Chechnya, as the kidnapping charge in this case is inconsistent with law enforcement practice, State Duma Deputy Nina Ostanina stated in a letter to the head of the Investigative Committee. She requested information on Mintsayeva's whereabouts and condition, as well as a mitigation of her pretrial detention.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on April 14, Lidiya Mikhalchenko, head of the "Motherless Caucasus" human rights project, reported that security forces detained 33-year-old Belkisa Mintsayeva "without any grounds" in the Nadterechny District of Chechnya. According to the human rights activist, Mintsayeva's children are staying with her ex-husband. Mintsayeva arrived in Chechnya under pressure from security forces, who threatened to send her brother to the SVO. Activists subsequently reported that Mintsayeva was under arrest in one of the Chechen police departments, lawyers were not allowed to see her and were being intimidated. The lack of contact with Belkisa Mintsayeva, who was detained in Chechnya, and information about her procedural status for a long time is a serious danger, indicated a human rights activist and a lawyer interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot."
State Duma Deputy Nina Ostanina, who chairs the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Childhood, contacted Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, regarding the fate of Belkisa Mintsayeva, journalist Ksenia Sobchak reported on her Telegram channel.
As follows from the text of the document attached to the publication, Ostanina noted that law enforcement practice has established a position according to which cases of a parent removing a child from the other parent or other persons to whom the child is legally transferred do not constitute a crime under the article on kidnapping (Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) if committed in the interests of the child.
Failure to comply with a court decision regarding the child's place of residence with one of the parents entails administrative liability (Part 2 of Article 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). The qualification of the mother's actions requires additional justification and a thorough analysis of the evidence, the deputy believes.
Ostanina emphasized that the woman herself had previously reported threats from her ex-husband and contacted the Investigative Committee.
"At the moment, the woman's fate is unknown, her lawyer has not responded, and there is no information about the pretrial detention facility (correctional facility) where she is being held," Ostanina wrote in her appeal.
The deputy asked the head of the Investigative Committee to look into the situation, provide information about Mintsayeva's whereabouts and her condition, "the legality of the decisions taken by the investigative body, including the initiation of criminal proceedings, and to take prompt measures to change her pretrial detention to a more lenient one."