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 district court of Grozny recognized as legal the investigator’s refusal to familiarize the relatives of the abducted Chechen native Movsar Umarov with the case materials. The North Caucasus branch of the Team Against Torture called this decision a violation of the constitutional rights of victims. An appeal against the court's decision was filed with the Supreme Court of Chechnya.
Three years after Umarov's disappearance, there is not a single suspect. The criminal case did not go to trial. The investigation refuses to look for those involved in the disappearance of the man, the “Team Against Torture” previously stated.
Let us recall that in July 2020, a restaurant employee in Grozny, Movsar Umarov, was detained by security forces and taken away in an unknown direction. Subsequently, over the phone, he told his family that he was interrogated in connection with watching videos of opposition blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov.
After some time, Umarov disappeared, and his relatives were informed that he had escaped during the investigation. The family believes he was murdered.