Chernovik has come out in support of its editor, Abdulmumin Gadzhiev.

The editorial board of the Dagestani newspaper Chernovik stated that they continue to consider Abdulmumin Gadzhiev innocent, despite his lengthy prison sentence on charges of financing terrorism. Gadzhiev's colleagues recalled that today marks seven years since his arrest.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, editor of the religion section of the Dagestani newspaper Chernovik, was arrested in June 2019 on charges of financing terrorism. On September 12, 2023, a court sentenced Gadzhiev to 17 years in prison. The prosecution failed to present convincing evidence in court, the defendant stated. On February 7, 2025, it became known that the European Court of Human Rights awarded Abdulmumin Gadzhiev €6,000 in compensation for violations of his rights following his arrest.

Seven years have passed since Abdulmumin Gadzhiev's arrest – his arrest occurred on June 14, 2019. In addition to Gadzhiev, Kemal Tambiev and Abubakar Rizvanov were also detained. All three, who were strangers to each other, were accused of terrorist crimes, the editorial board of the Chernovik newspaper recalled today on its Telegram channel.

The newspaper's editorial board stated that it continues to believe Gadzhiev is innocent, and that the criminal case, consisting of 38 volumes, was initially directed against Chernovik, its editorial policy, and is also retaliation for the publication's coverage of the 2016 murder of the Gasanguseinov brothers and the involvement of security forces.

Gadzhiev's case was riddled with numerous procedural violations, and witness testimony was contradictory, while there was not a single direct or convincing indirect evidence of Gadzhiev's guilt, the editorial board emphasized.

Abdulmumin Gadzhiev is being held in the Vladimir Central Prison, according to Dagestani theologian Umar Bota-Khadzhi. Gadzhiev is scheduled to be transferred to a less restrictive prison this year. In prison, he studies, reads books, and has no complaints, Umar Bota-Khadzhi reported today on his Telegram channel.

As a reminder, according to investigators, Gadzhiev transferred money to the accounts of the preacher Abu Umar Sasitlinsky's foundation. Investigators believe the preacher himself is the organizer of terrorist financing through charitable foundations under the guise of building mosques and aiding low-income Muslims.

Investigators and prosecutors found in Gadzhiev's articles "dissemination among the population of ideas about the need to separate the North Caucasus Federal District republics and establish Sharia law in this territory," attempts to "influence people's consciousness to involve them in the activities of a terrorist organization," and pushing "readers to renounce their secular way of life" to further their moral and spiritual preparation for the necessity and determination to create a theocratic state, including through violent means."

Pickets in defense of Gadzhiev have been held regularly since June 2019, when the journalist was detained. According to colleagues, Gadzhiev is suffering because the newspaper raised "uncomfortable questions" for the authorities and security forces. Rallies in support of Gadzhiev took place not only in Makhachkala, but also in other cities in Russia and abroad. Online support rallies were also held – on social media using the hashtags #FreeAbdulmuminu and #FreeAbdulmuminGadzhiev, under which "several thousand publications can be found," according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Draft": threats, criminal cases, the murder of the editor-in-chief".

Details of the case are collected in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Golunov number two": the main points about the Abdulmumin Gadzhiev case".

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.