Last Hope of Chechen Refugees Imprisoned

Last Hope of Chechen Refugees Imprisoned

On the 28th of December, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Chechen refugee Mahomed Mahaev to three months of preliminary custody.

The staff of the Special Operative Department arrested Mahaev on the 27th of December. Mahaev’s humanitarian organization “Imedi” (“Hope”) is accused of keeping up connections with terrorist network “Al Qaeda”, of document falsification, abuse of position and tax evasion involving an amount of approximately 24 thousand Gel.

Humanitarian organization “Imedi” has been operating in the Pankisi gorge and is the only organization assisting Chechen refugees in Georgia.

The General Procurer’s Office is investigating the case from July 2005 onwards. He had never tried to hide from the police and always attended the examinations.

The Human Rights Centre demands:

• To transform custody into another provisional measure, as there is no threat that Mahaev will hide from the police;
• To find out the truth;
• To drop the accusation of the connection of “Imedi” with “Al Qaeda”