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).
A court in Baku sentenced Shiite theologian Sardar Babayev to 17 years in prison. He was found guilty of treason in favor of Iran. He called the charges fabricated and called himself “a victim of the deterioration of Azerbaijani-Iranian relations.”
According to lawyers, during the judicial investigation no substantiated and reliable evidence of Babayev’s guilt was presented. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner. Previously, the ECHR decided to pay the theologian compensation in the amount of 5 thousand euros, recognizing a violation under Art. 5 (right to liberty and security of person).
In 2017, Sardar Babayev was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of violating the requirements for conducting religious ceremonies. Then he was recognized as a political prisoner for the first time.