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 Makhachkala arrested activist and sports commentator Ramazan Rabadanov for two months, until January 7. He was accused of illegal arms and ammunition trafficking.
According to the lawyer, the investigation did not provide all the necessary documents, and the detention and interrogation reports were drawn up without a defense attorney and cannot be admitted.
Rabadanov told the court that he could not be held in custody for health reasons.
“I was in a temporary detention facility for two days. This food does not suit me. I cannot have bread or dairy. I was detained on a trumped-up charge,” the activist said.
On November 7, Rabadanov was detained by officers of the Center for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Makhachkala. He allegedly had a pistol, ammunition, and a grenade. The blogger told his relatives that the security forces had planted prohibited items.
Relatives noted that Rabadanov received threats from law enforcement agencies four times regarding his live broadcasts in support of those detained in the case of the pogrom at the Makhachkala airport, who were protesting against the arrival of a plane from Israel.