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).
The Cherkessk city court has extended the term of detention until January 18, 2025 for the former head of the Stavropol Krai traffic police department, Aleksey Safonov. He is accused of creating a criminal organization and receiving large-scale bribes as an organized group.
Safonov and a number of his subordinates are accused of receiving about 22 million rubles for ensuring the unimpeded passage of trucks through the region. Traffic police officers used an unofficial system of paper "passes" that drivers placed under the windshield of their vehicles, and ordinary employees knew that such drivers should not be touched.
Earlier, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, property worth 180 million rubles was seized from the former head of the traffic police department and his relatives. The list included 22 objects: apartments, cars, non-residential premises, houses and the famous mansion with golden toilets.
No information about the legality of the sources through which the property was acquired was presented during the verification activities, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.