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 head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a fragment of his meeting with Nikita Zhuravel, who is under investigation in Grozny for burning the Koran. Zhuravel tells Kadyrov that he wants to convert to Islam.
- Believe in Islam?
- Yes.
“You’re not saying this from the heart.”
Kadyrov called the young man “an SBU agent, a pronounced provocateur and saboteur.”
Earlier, the head of Chechnya posted a video in which his son Adam, under the supervision of security, beats Nikita Zhuravel in a pre-trial detention center. “I beat him and did the right thing. Moreover, I believe that anyone who encroaches on any Holy Scripture, including demonstratively burning it, thereby offending tens of millions of citizens of our great country, must suffer severe punishment,” Kadyrov wrote in his telegram channel.
Let us remind you that Nikita Zhuravel, a student from Volgograd, was detained on May 21 after a video appeared on social networks in which he was burning the Koran in front of a mosque. According to the investigation, Zhuravel admitted that he burned the Koran at the direction of the Ukrainian intelligence services for a reward of 10 thousand rubles. A criminal case was opened against him for insulting the feelings of believers. The young man was sent under arrest to Chechnya.