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 Dagestan, 126 people suspected of participating in riots at Makhachkala airport on October 29 are being held in pre-trial detention center No. 1. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission (POC) for the protection of human rights in places of forced detention in Dagestan Shamil Khadulaev.
He emphasized that community members spoke with 7 suspects. They all disagree with the accusations.
“Of course, every detainee must be approached with the utmost care, and if the person did not actually do anything, but was only present there, then, I think, the investigation should definitely take this into account. Many of those in pre-trial detention center No. 1, of course, regret that they ended up there at all...” wrote Khadulaev.
He noted that the relatives of those arrested do not agree with the charges brought against them of organizing and participating in mass riots. Many simply watched from the sidelines and regret that they were at the airport at that moment.
On October 29, residents of Dagestan staged a pogrom at the Makhachkala airport demanding that passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv not be allowed into the city. The action took place as part of the response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.