Elena Patyaeva—a friend of Seda Suleymanova, who disappeared three years ago after being forcibly returned from St. Petersburg to Chechnya—was detained in Grozny. On August 23, Patyaeva stood by the monument to journalists who died for freedom of speech, holding a sign that read: "I demand an investigation into the murder of Seda Suleymanova." This was reported by the human rights project "Slovo Zashchite" (Word for the Defense).
After persistent requests from relatives and human rights activists, Azerbaijani social activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, who has been in a pre-trial detention center for almost a year, stopped his hunger strike on the tenth day.
Gadzhiev went on a hunger strike on October 2, after the court extended his arrest for another three months. The defense stated that the court's decision was illegal, since the deadlines established by law for conducting the investigation were violated.
Bakhtiyar Gadzhiev was arrested at the end of 2022 on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court. Later, he was charged with new articles on illegal entrepreneurship, legalization of proceeds from crime, falsification of documents and smuggling.
The charges brought are related to Hajiyev’s receipt of grants from a European human rights organization. He went on hunger strike several times. Representatives of the US State Department, the European Union, the Council of Europe and a number of international NGOs have repeatedly demanded the release of the activist.