Crimean woman officially arrested on treason charges 15 months after her abduction

Karaim woman Sakha Mangubi was officially placed in custody on treason charges (Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code) in late January. Prior to that, she had been held in incommunicado detention for nearly 15 months after her abduction. The decision on the preventive measure was reported by the project Tribunal: The Crimean Episode, citing the human rights initiative Irade.

Mangubi was taken from her home by Russian security forces on November 2, 2024. ‘They simply jumped over the fence and went to Sakha. Five masked men carried out a search in the house from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., then brought in their own witnesses, they signed something, and the woman was taken away,’ a neighbor described the situation.

At the police station, Mangubi’s mother was given a certificate stating that her daughter had been taken by the FSB. The FSB, in turn, did not respond to inquiries for six months and later, according to the mother, said: ‘We have no such person on our records.’ Unofficially, relatives were told that three anonymous denunciations had been filed against the woman, alleging that she was engaged in unlawful activities.

In July, it became known that Sakha Mangubi was being held at Simferopol SIZO-2 in incommunicado detention.

The woman is 26 years old, she has two children.