The case of Varvara Karaulova

A brief version of the story about the escape of the student of Moscow State University to the Islamic State and its arrest

The student of Moscow State University Barbara Karaulova, who tried to escape to the Islamic State, was arrested. This is an unusual turn in history: back in July 2015, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said that there is no reason to initiate a criminal case against it. The reason for the initiation of a criminal case and arrest, according to the media, was her correspondence with the militant of the Islamic State group banned in Russia. "Medusa" briefly tells the story of Karaulova from the very beginning.

In May 2015, a second -year student of Moscow State University Barbara Karaulova secretly flew to Istanbul from her parents. From there she was taken to the border with Syria. Parents made a large-scale search for a 19-year-old girl. As a result, it was able to track down and detain it. Karaulov was handed over to his father, and together they returned to Moscow.

Father Karaulova is not the most ordinary Russian. Pavel Karaulov himself said that he has “certain connections” in the FSB and Foreign Ministry. “Real assistance began only when people began to connect,” he told NTV. Pavel Karaulov worked as the director of the Informzashtit company, whose clients are state departments and companies, including the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank.

Karaulova planned to join the Islamic State. The girl’s father claims to be recruited. According to Lifenews, Karaulova was seriously carried away by Islam and fell in love with a resident of Kazan, who had left for Syria and called her to her. Shortly before leaving for Turkey, the girl changed her name in the messenger on Amina.

Karaulova was not detained alone. Together with her, 14 Russians were detained on the Turkish-Syrian border. The fate of most of them is unknown. Two of them were arrested in Chechnya . Both are accused of preparing to participate in illegal armed formation (part 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Law enforcement agencies had no complaints about the student of Moscow State University. After returning from Turkey, Karaulov was interrogated as a witness. On July 23, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said that investigators finally decided not to institute criminal proceedings against her.

In October 2015, it became known that a criminal case was still opened on Karaulov. The Lifenews TV channel said that Karaulova did not stop communicating with her acquaintance from the Islamic State. This was the reason for the initiation of the case under Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Article 205.5 provides for punishment for participating in a prohibited organization, and article 30 means preparing for this crime. That is, according to law enforcement agencies, Karaulov was preparing to participate in a prohibited organization. Barbara Karaulova was arrested by the court.

The dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University Vladimir Mironov believes that the student should be punished. “To take a position here: this is our student, we must protect her - we will not. This is excluded! She is an adult. For some reason, we have a young man who goes into the army and who is given weapons in his hands, is considered to be adults. When a person at the same age performs such an act, we begin to say: “Ah, she is still small, ah, she is still a girl!” She was going to marry! You can say, I have already come out. She committed a crime and must answer by law, ”Mironov said.