Shamil Nurmagomedov, the brother of suspected IS militant Marat Nurmagomedov, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for providing material help to a terrorist organisation. A court ordered that their father, Kazim Nurmagomedov, be detained for two months.

Kazim’s youngest son, Marat Nurmagomedov, left for Syria in August 2013, allegedly to fight for the Islamic State. He left behind his pregnant wife. In 2015, Marat left Syria, and is now reportedly in hiding somewhere in Ukraine.

On 22 January, the Moscow District Military Court began hearings on Shamil’s case, and on 6 February found him guilty, sentencing him to 7 years in a penal colony. The family say they will appeal the ruling.

According to the prosecution, Shamil transferred ₽200,000 ($3,500) to Syria to the Islamic State. He denied this charge, claiming he transferred money to his younger brother Marat, who had said ‘he was cold in winter and had nothing to eat’.

Correspondence between Marat and Shamil indicated that he had spent the money on ‘optical equipment’ capable of night vision. But the defence argued that Marat had never mentioned nor intended to finance any organisation, and had only intended to give money to a single ‘participant of an illegal armed force’.

The father detained

The brothers’ father, Kazim Nurmagomedov was detained in Moscow on 31 January as he left the court hearings into his son’s case.

Kazim’s eldest son, Imagadzhi Nurmagomedov, told OC Media that officials informed the family he had been taken to the Internal Affairs Department in Moscow’s Basmanny District, to check his identity. However, when the family arrived at the department, he was not there.

That evening, Kazim called the family and informed them he had been taken to the Daghestani city of Kizilyurt, 1,500 kilometers south of Moscow.

‘He said he was suspected of complicity, and a preventive measure will now be chosen for him’, Imagadzhi said. It remains unclear why Kazim was brought to Kizilyurt, as according to his son, the family have no connections with the city.

On 1 February, Kizilyurt City Court ordered Kazim’s detention for two months on suspicion of aiding terrorists, while an investigation is under way. His lawyer Abdurashid Sheykhov says he plans to challenge the decision.

‘My father cooperated with the special services, hiding nothing from them. It's no secret that Marat is on the territory of Ukraine. But I think that the arrest is connected with Shamil’s case, with my father’s active participation in this issue’, Imagadzhi said.

Kazim told Caucasian Knot in April 2017 that he had travelled to Syria in September 2013 to persuade his son to leave. He told OC Media in July that he had been repeatedly questioned by security forces about Marat.