Zhalavdi Geriyev in Itum‐Kali, Chechnya in September 2014. Image: Dominik Cagara. There are people who are much closer to Zhalavdi Geriyev — we only kept in touch sporadically — but most of them won’t be able to speak up. I will, no matter the consequences, because speaking up about the plight of journalists in the North Caucasus is the only thing left to do.
In September this year, Geriyev, 23, who worked as a journalist in the Russian republic of Chechnya, was sentenced to three years in a penal colony on the absurd charge of drug possession, an accusation which is commonly used to silence journalists in countries like Russia or Azerbaijan.
Indeed, Memorial Human Rights Centre has recognised Geriyev as a political prisoner, being certain that he suffered as a result of his professional activity as a journalist.
