The court arrested a Russian woman in absentia for leaving for Syria to participate in ISIS activities

The Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow arrested in absentia a Russian citizen who married a foreign citizen and went with him to Syria to participate in hostilities as part of the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation. This was stated in the text of the court decision which TASS has obtained.

According to the preliminary investigation bodies, Valeria Dianova was supporting the ideas of radical fundamentalism and wanted to put her beliefs into practice through personal participation in the activities of Islamic armed groups and terrorist organizations. In March 2015 she flew from Moscow to Istanbul, and then under unknown circumstances she arrived to Syria and joined the Islamic State in Syria foreign terrorist organization. She came to Syria together with a citizen of Tajikistan who also shared the ideological principles of ISIS and is accused in his homeland of crimes related to religious extremism. Once in Syria, the man started to directly participate in hostilities, and Dianova provided medical assistance to the wounded militants and performed household functions.

She was charged under Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Participation in the Activities of an Organization that is Designated as Terrorist in Accordance with the Legislation of the Russian Federation). The woman faces up to 20 years in prison.