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).
An audio recording of conversations about prayer, secretly made in a mosque back in 2015, became evidence for the prosecution in the case of the “first Jankoy group” of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Previously, its participants - activist Enver Krosh, journalist Vilen Temeryanov, Rinat Aliyev, Murat Mustafayev, Seityagi Abbozov and Edem Bekirov - were recognized as political prisoners.
“The defendants discussed a number of issues about namaz: how to perform namaz, what Sharia norms are on this matter, and so on. There was no talk about terrorism and extremism. This once again proves the nature of the criminal cases against our clients,” commented lawyer Emil Kurbedinov.
According to security officials, Enver Krosh created a cell of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in the Russian Federation, in the Dzhankoy region of Crimea. Rinat Aliyev, Seityaga Abbozov, Edem Bekirov and Vilen Temeryanov became its participants. Security officials said that the Crimean Tatars were preparing for a violent seizure of power.