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 meeting of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk with «the so-called head of occupied Abkhazia is a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia». President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said so.
Zurabishvili recalled Lukashenko’s early visit to Abkhazia, where he also met with the President of the self-proclaimed republic Aslan Bjania. In so doing, it violated the law on the occupied territories of Georgia. In addition to Abkhazia, this includes South Ossetia, which is effectively controlled by Moscow. However, Belarus has not recognized these regions as sovereign and independent.
«We call on Belarus to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within the internationally recognized borders, to stop taking actions that contradict the fundamental principles and norms of international law», - said the Georgian Foreign Ministry on the eve.