Moscow resident goes on hunger strike in Makhachkala demanding end to unlawful prosecution

Moscow resident Anastasiya Goysan, currently held in a pre-trial detention centre in Makhachkala, began a hunger strike on Tuesday protesting her detention. Goysan was detained after her ex-lover accused her of embezzling a large sum of money following their break-up.

The news was reported by Shamil Khadulaev, head of the Public Monitoring Commission (ONK) of Daghestan, via his Telegram channel. He noted that the administration of Makhachkala Detention Centre No.1 had been made aware of the situation.

‘There’s a cynical, all too clear violation of human rights here, and I’m a human rights defender. She is accused of embezzlement, although she allegedly stole the money’, Khadulaev told OC Media.

‘There are no facts to support the accusation [that she committed the crime in Daghestan]. She has no acquaintances in Daghestan, she is completely defenceless here. She is being kept in a pre-trial detention centre, even though she attended the trial herself, travelling from Moscow. This is a legal outrage!’, he added

A court hearing was scheduled for Thursday to review Goysan’s preventive measure.

Goysan, a choreographer and psychologist from Moscow, was arrested in September 2024 on charges of embezzling ₽28 million ($330,000). According to investigators, the alleged crime took place in Makhachkala, although the defence maintains that Goysan had never set foot in Daghestan prior to her arrest. Goysan herself claims the criminal case against her was fabricated by her former partner, Muslim Ibragimov, a native of Daghestan and a senior official in the tax service, with whom she had previously been in a relationship.

In her handwritten statement announcing the hunger strike, Goysan wrote that in the nine months since the investigation began, she has not been informed of the exact date when she was supposedly in Makhachkala and received money from the alleged victim. She stressed that neither the ‘victim’, Osman Aliev, nor his cousin Ibragimov — her former partner — could recall the date in question. She therefore declared she would continue her hunger strike until she was provided with the specifics related to her case.

She placed full responsibility for her health and life on the Investigative Department of Daghestan’s Interior Ministry and on the regional Prosecutor’s Office, noting that she had no other means of resisting what she described as legal arbitrariness.

Chief state tax inspector Ibragimov first met Goysan in 2017. After they began living together, he allegedly suggested registering purchased property in her name, citing his status as a civil servant and the need to avoid drawing attention.

After their relationship ended in 2021, Ibragimov reportedly asked her to re-register the property in his cousin’s name. Later, following a final separation, the two sold their jointly owned flat and, according to an agreement, split the proceeds.

However, Goysan claims that Ibragimov later attempted to rekindle the relationship that same year, and, after she refused, used his connections in law enforcement to initiate a criminal case against her in Daghestan.

In July 2024, a police officer visited Goysan for questioning, and shortly after, her car was declared wanted in Daghestan.

In September 2024, she was forcibly transported to Makhachkala, where she was placed in pre-trial detention. Ten days later, she was formally charged with embezzlement and misappropriation of ₽28 million ($330,000).

Investigators allege that Goysan borrowed ₽12 million ($140,000) from Aliev and appropriated another ₽16 million ($190,000) from the sale of a flat. However, the defence notes that the case file does not specify the date of the alleged offence, which deprives Goysan of the opportunity to present an alibi. Furthermore, Aliev reportedly cannot remember the date he handed over the large sum of money.

MP Saygidpasha Umakhanov previously appealed to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, requesting that the situation surrounding Goysan’s prosecution be reviewed, citing possible unlawful actions taken against her.

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