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 a court in Kyrgyzstan decided to deport Chechen native Mansur Movlaev to Russia, he left the republic. He did this to avoid ending up in Chechnya, where he would face torture and imprisonment.
As lawyer Bakyt Avtandil noted, Movlaev’s location is not disclosed for security reasons. Earlier, a court in Bishkek found the native of Chechnya guilty, sentenced him to six months for illegally crossing the border and decided to expel him from the country. The defendant has repeatedly stated that in the Russian Federation he faces torture and death.
27-year-old Mansur Movlaev flew to Kyrgyzstan in August and was detained by employees of the country's State Committee for National Security. Previously, he was put on the federal wanted list in Russia.
In 2020, Mansur Movlaev was sentenced to three years on charges of financing extremism. Human rights activists claim that he was persecuted for criticizing the Chechen authorities and speaking out against human rights violations and repression. In 2022, he was released on parole, but he was detained by security forces in Chechnya. Movlaev managed to escape and reach Kyrgyzstan illegally.