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).
Journalist Amet Suleymanov, sentenced to 12 years and serving time in prison No. 2 in the Vladimir region, did not receive the necessary medications for heart failure. He has been living without them for three months now. The prisoner's family prepared and sent him a package with drugs, but it was not accepted.
The Crimean Tatar experiences malaise and weakness, suffers from swelling of the legs and pain in the joints. He has severe shortness of breath and high blood pressure. He was recommended to have surgery to replace a heart valve.
Not only parcels, but also letters are not delivered to Suleymanov, messages are not sent to relatives.
In 2019, the Southern District Military Court, despite numerous statements from the defense about Suleymanov’s health, sentenced him to 12 years in a maximum security colony in the case of participation in the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in the Russian Federation. His lawyer Lilya Gemedzhi considers the sentence fatal: “They sentenced him to die. For a person with such a diagnosis, imprisonment is cynicism.”