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 Russian Supreme Court refused to overturn the decision to criminally prosecute eight murdered residents of the Dagestan Khasavyurt. The defense noted that their guilt was refuted by the lack of evidence and the testimony of witnesses.
The version of the Russian authorities says that residents of Khasavyurt Gashim Uzdanov, Klych Klychev, Gosen Gosenov, Kamil and two Shamil Dzhamalutdinovs, Islam Magomedov and Pakhrutdin Makhaev attacked police officers in the Gudermes district of Chechnya on September 28, 2016. They allegedly opened fire from two cars and threw a grenade. With return fire, the security forces blew up the transport, and those sitting in it died.
The relatives of the victims initially did not believe this version. In their opinion, the sons and husbands were kidnapped, and then they were staged an attack and killed. Moreover, a criminal case was opened against already dead people. The ECHR also concluded that the exact cause of death of eight residents of Dagestan remains unknown.