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).
In pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Simferopol, prisoners were beaten, including on the head and with a stun gun. They were also forced to repeat the Russian anthem by heart every day. Crimean Tatar Ekrem Krosh, who suffered among others, spoke about this at a speech in the Southern District Military Court in Rostov.
When Krosh refused to sing the Russian anthem, they started beating him. At the same time, the guards were drunk. Many of them often used stun guns on prisoners.
After Ekrem Krosh wrote a complaint to the head of the pre-trial detention center, Nikolai Ryabov, he called him into his office and hit him twice in the face, leaving a bruise.
The Crimean Tatar is accused of participating in the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as a “terrorist organization.” At the same time, it operates freely on the territory of Ukraine and most countries of the world. According to human rights activists, members of the organization are being persecuted not for preparing a coup and terrorism, but for public actions against political repression in Crimea and criticism of the Russian authorities.