A court in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya rejected a request by Zarema Musayeva, the imprisoned mother of three self-exiled outspoken Chechen opposition activists, for an early release over her state of health.
The Team Against Torture human rights group on June 10 quoted Musayeva's lawyer Aleksandr Savin as saying the court in the city of Shali backed up its decision by basing it on a new diagnosis made by state medical personnel.
In April, a medical commission in Chechnya replaced Musayeva's previous diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes with multiple complications with a revised assessment of type 2 diabetes without complications.
Musayeva, who is serving a five-year term in a colony settlement -- a dormitory-like penitentiary located near an industrial facility where convicts work alongside regular employees -- was hospitalized in late March after her eyesight deteriorated sharply and lumps appeared on her body.
Human rights groups have said Musayeva needs proper medical assistance as she has an acute form of diabetes, cataracts, and a constant pain in her knee.
Musayeva is the mother of Ibragim, Abubakar, and Baisangur Yangulbayev, all of whom have fled the country citing harassment from Chechen authorities over their online criticism of Kremlin-backed Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov.
Chechen police and security officers detained Musayeva in January 2022 in her apartment in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, some 1,800 kilometers from Chechnya, and forcibly returned her to the North Caucasus region's capital, Grozny.
In July last year, a court in Chechnya sentenced Musayeva to 5 1/2 years in prison on charges of fraud and attacking a police officer, which Musayeva and her supporters have denied.
In September, the Supreme Court of Chechnya shortened Musayeva's prison term by six months and said Musayeva must serve her term in a colony settlement instead of a correctional colony.
Kadyrov, other Chechen officials, and a member of the Russian Duma have publicly vowed to kill all members of the Yangulbayev family, calling them "terrorists."
Journalists, rights activists, and other Russians have urged the government to punish those who issued the threats.
Abubakar Yangulbayev has accused Kadyrov's law enforcement and security officers of "lawlessness on a daily basis in Chechnya" and said the case against his mother is Kadyrov's retaliation for his activities.
Ibragim and Abubakar have said they faced years of pressure from Chechen authorities over their online criticism of Kadyrov and the rights situation in Chechnya.
Many of their relatives have been similarly harassed in Chechnya and even deprived of their homes since Kadyrov and his people vowed to kill them and their families.
The activists' father, retired federal judge Saidi Yangulbayev, and a sister fled Russia in January 2022, following the threats.
Russian and international human rights groups have for years accused Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community.
Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in mostly-Muslim Chechnya.