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 bank accounts of those arrested in the Abzas Media case, Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Vagifkizi, Nargiz Absalamova and Hafiz Babali, have been frozen. Their property was confiscated. Members of their families were also injured.
The bank accounts of the family members of the imprisoned head of the Internet television channel “Channel 13” Aziz Orujov have been frozen. His wife's account and his mother's pension card have also been blocked. According to lawyer Tural Agayev, the arrest of property and bank accounts of relatives of those arrested is not provided for by law.
Earlier, the European Union called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release journalists Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Vagifgizi, Muhammad Kekalov, Aziz Orujov, Rufat Muradli, Nargiz Absalamova, Teymur Kerimov and Hafiz Babali. They were investigating corruption of the country's officials. They were charged with smuggling foreign currency into Azerbaijan.