In Chechnya, after three years in prison, a Caucasian Knot journalist was released

In Chechnya, after three years of imprisonment in a penal colony, the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" Zhalaudi Geriev, who was accused of drug possession, was released. This was reported on the publication's website.

“This is also an experience for me, I will not try to forget it like a bad dream, but I will try to draw conclusions and I will look at life with optimism. In conclusion, I felt free, I continue to feel free now,” Geriev said.

The "Caucasian Knot" noted that the case against the journalist was fabricated. In 2016, Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Geriev as a political prisoner, and 14 human rights and journalistic organizations condemned his persecution.

• In October 2016, Geriev was sentenced to three years in prison for drug trafficking. According to investigators, on April 16, 2016, Geriev went to the outskirts of the village of Kurchaloy to use marijuana, where he was detained.
• At the 2016 hearings, the defense pointed to several serious contradictions in the prosecution: Geriev allegedly collected marijuana in August, although it ripens in October; allegedly, the journalist with a large package went to the village in April 2016 to use the drug, but no equipment for its preparation was found; and in the end, the day before the alleged drug use, Geriev bought a plane ticket and on the day of detention he was supposed to be on his way to the airport.