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).
In Chechnya, local security forces visited the house of Ali Bataev's relatives. He is being held in a deportation prison in Switzerland, and, according to human rights activists, if he is deported to Russia, he faces torture and death for criticizing the political regime in Chechnya.
The security forces are trying to put pressure through relatives so that Bataev agrees to deportation. This was announced by the head of the human rights organization "European House of Peace" Zainap Gashayeva.
Switzerland believes that Ali Bataev in Russia will be subjected to a fair trial, which can be regarded as hypocrisy and double standards, according to human rights activist Mohammad Abdurakhmanov. In Germany and Sweden, regular actions were held in defense of Bataev. Earlier rallies were held in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
Recall that Ali Bataev had a residence permit in Ukraine. After the outbreak of the war, he left for Europe as a refugee and ended up in Switzerland. He arrived there in September 2022 and has since been imprisoned as an illegal refugee, where he has been on a hunger strike.