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).
A court in Crimea dropped all charges against the imam of the village of Privetnoye, Kirovsky district, Ismail Yurdamov, under the article on illegal missionary work. In January he was fined eight thousand rubles.
On December 13, 2023, officers from the Center for Specialized Execution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to see Yurdamov. They read out the search warrant, which stated the imam’s participation in the Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in Russia. The phones of all family members were taken away, and the police did not answer questions for clarification. Then Yurdamov was taken to the police department, where an administrative report was drawn up.
In court, the accused explained that for many years he had performed some religious rituals in the village of Privetnoye at the request of the residents of the village and the current imam. The latter often delegated his powers due to his state of health and age. The judge accepted the appeal and granted it in full.