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).
Deputy of the State Council of Tatarstan Azat Khamaev apologized “for his emotional statement” about the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.
“Speaking at a meeting of the State Council of the Republic, I expressed a purely personal opinion, which was not supported by my colleagues. I apologize for words that could harm relations between fraternal peoples,” Khamaev said.
The apology followed a statement by the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, that the deputy’s words had nothing to do with the position of the republic’s Muslims. In addition, the State Council of Tatarstan deleted the recording of the 48th session from all accounts. It was there that, during the discussion of the bill on patriotic education, Azat Khamaev raised the topic of the beating of Nikita Zhuravel, accused of burning the Koran, by Kadyrov’s son Adam. “The first question I asked myself: what legal field do we live in? The head of a subject of the Russian Federation awards the title of hero to his son for beating a man. Further, developing his idea, he says that he is the hero of all Muslims,” Khamaev addressed his colleagues.