Croatia Seeks to Extradite Leila Gatagazheva’s Brother to Russia. He Has Started a Hunger Strike in a Deportation Detention Facility

On 29 December 2025, the County Court in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik ordered the extradition of Russian citizen Magomed-Amin Gatagazhev. Earlier, the Ingushetia-born man, born in 2006, had been detained in Croatia on the basis of an Interpol notice. Since October 2025, he has been held in a deportation detention facility in Zagreb.

The court decided to extradite Magomed-Amin at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office. According to the Russian authorities, the Investigative Committee’s department for the city of Malgobek (Republic of Ingushetia) opened a criminal case against Gatagazhev on charges of participation in a terrorist organization (Article 205.5 §2 of the Russian Criminal Code) and participation in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state (Article 208 §2). The defence was not given access to the case materials on which these charges were based.

According to his relatives, until 2025 the young man lived and studied in Turkey. His mother took Magomed-Amin out of Russia together with his sister while both children were still minors.

Magomed-Amin is the brother of Leila Gatagazheva, who was extradited from Iraq to Russia in June 2023. She was charged under the same articles as Magomed-Amin, but the terrorism-related charge was later dropped. We previously reported in detail on the case of Leila Gatagazheva.

Gatagazhev’s lawyer has appealed the extradition decision, arguing that the Russian Prosecutor’s Office failed to provide convincing evidence of his client’s guilt. Moreover, the documents submitted by the Russian side suggest that Magomed-Amin allegedly joined an armed formation at the age of 13–14. The lawyer describes the prosecution as politically motivated and expresses serious concerns for Magomed-Amin’s life should he be extradited to Russia.

In Russia, pre-trial detention was ordered as a preventive measure against Gatagazhev. On 12 October 2022, the Malgobek City Court issued an in absentia decision, at a time when Magomed-Amin had just turned 16.

Gatagazhev’s relatives maintain that he was not involved in any armed formations and had no connections with terrorists. They fear that if he is handed over to the Russian authorities, he will receive a lengthy prison sentence on the basis of a fabricated criminal case. They insist that law enforcement has no evidence of his guilt, just as there was none in his sister Leila’s case.

Gatagazhev’s relatives report that on 19 January all 50 detainees held with him in the facility began a hunger strike. For three months, they have allegedly not been taken outside, have not been given dinner, and have been fed spoiled food. Prison staff are said to treat detainees in a rude and abusive manner. According to the family, the hunger strike is also a protest against Magomed-Amin’s deportation and the treatment of detainees by prison staff.

It is claimed that yesterday prison officials issued an ultimatum: if the hunger strike is not ended, “special forces will be brought in, everyone will be beaten, and detainees will be dispersed to other prisons.”