Guseva's case in Yaroslavl

Case History

In April 2023, Izolda Guseva was returning from leave to care for her sick mother. When crossing the border with Georgia, she was detained. She was told that she was on the federal wanted list and had been a defendant in a criminal case under an article for extremism for about 8 months. The security services took her from Vladikavkaz to Yaroslavl. They kept her in handcuffs, removing them only at Moscow airport. Guseva was detained for 3 days, 1.5 of which she spent in a temporary detention facility, and then released under a ban on certain actions. The investigation considered her participation in online worship services a crime.
Timeline

  • #
    May 11, 2022

    The investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Yaroslavl Region, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Alexander Grigoriev, singles out materials regarding Izolda Guseva from the case of Filiznov and others in a separate proceeding.

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    August 29, 2022 Case initiated

    Investigator Grigoriev initiates a criminal case against Izolda Guseva. The woman is charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation considers it a crime that she discussed the Bible with friends via video conferencing.

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    April 18, 2023

    Izolda Guseva returns from leave to care for her sick mother. When crossing the border with Georgia, she is detained for 5 hours, so she finds out that she is on the Federal wanted list. According to the believer, at this time a provocateur is planted next to her, who pretends to be her co-religionist and tries to talk.

    From the border checkpoint, Izolda is taken to the Vladikavkaz police station, where her fingerprints are taken, and the duty officer takes pictures of her without permission. A woman who asks questions about God is placed in Guseva's cell. The believer does not answer her, which is why the woman begins to insult her and beat her with her hands. The police do not interfere in what is happening, despite Isolde's requests.

    Guseva spends the night in a cell. Only closer to the morning the woman is offered tea - before that she was not given any food or water.

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    April 20, 2023

    The believer is taken by plane from Vladikavkaz to Moscow, and from there by car to Yaroslavl. Only at the Moscow airport the handcuffs are removed from the believer.

    At about 4 o'clock in the morning, upon arrival at the local investigation department of the Investigative Committee, the investigator for especially important cases Grigoriev begins interrogation. Then the woman is placed in the temporary detention center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Yaroslavl region. There she is subjected to a humiliating body search.

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    April 21, 2023 Prohibition of certain actions

    The believer is released under the prohibition of certain actions.