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 Baku arrested Shamo Emin, a former employee of Kanal-13 Internet television, for three months. He is accused of smuggling. Earlier, the head of the channel, Aziz Orujov, was taken into custody under the same article; he was also charged with “illegal housing construction.”
Recently, there have been repressions against independent journalists and activists in Azerbaijan. Director of the online publication Abzas Media Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgyzy, journalist of the publication Nargiz Absalamova, as well as activist Mohammed Kekalov, who collaborated with Abzas Media, were arrested. They were accused of smuggling foreign currency. Numerous international human rights and journalistic organizations have demanded their release.
Abzas Media was involved in anti-corruption investigations, including against high-ranking Azerbaijani officials.