In 2014, 12-year-old Leila Gatagazheva moved with her mother from Ingushetia to the Middle East. According to Kavkaz.Realii, when Leila was 13 she was forced into marriage. Her husband was killed in 2017, leaving her alone with two children and her paralyzed mother-in-law. Shortly after his death, 16-year-old Leila surrendered to the Iraqi authorities to seek help. As a minor, she was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Her children lived with her in detention.
In 2019, Leila’s grandmother managed to include the children on a list of minors repatriated from Syria and Iraq and brought them back to Russia.
That same year, while Leila Gatagazheva was serving her sentence in an Iraqi prison, criminal proceedings were opened against her in Russia. She was charged with participation in a terrorist organization. According to the investigation, in 2016 the 15-year-old Gatagazheva allegedly joined an ISIS unit, where she was said to have performed household tasks, cared for fighters, and provided them with financial assistance. A custodial measure was imposed in absentia, and in 2020 she was placed on a wanted list. In 2022, a second criminal case was opened against her, this time for participation in an armed formation.
After completing her sentence, Leila Gatagazheva spent nearly another year in an Iraqi prison awaiting extradition to Russia. Upon her return, she was placed in a pre-trial detention center (SIZO), then transferred to house arrest, and later returned to detention. In May 2024, the court placed her under house arrest for the third time. Each time the preventive measure was reviewed, investigators requested that she remain in custody, citing concerns that Gatagazheva might abscond or put pressure on witnesses.
Her lawyers argue that the investigation has no evidence to support the charges and therefore no grounds to keep Leila Gatagazheva in custody.
On 17 June 2024, it became known that the preventive measure against Leila Gatagazheva had been changed to a travel restriction (a written undertaking not to leave her place of residence).
