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).
Family members of Turpal-Ali Shamurzaev, who committed the murder of Imam Abdurakhim Gakaev in the Chechen village of Voskresenovskoye, recorded a video message with an apology. They also came to the family of the deceased to ask for forgiveness.
“We were not aware that Shamurzaev went to kill him, otherwise we would have stopped him. We offer our condolences to the family of Abdurakhim Gakaev. Please forgive us, we are guilty before you,” said the relatives of the alleged killer.
The day before, the court arrested the accused in the case of the murder of a resident of the village of Voskresenovskoye, Shelkovsky district, imam Abdurakhim Gakaev. This was reported by the Investigative Committee for Chechnya.
According to the department, on the afternoon of January 14 in the village of Voskresenovskoye, a 55-year-old local resident was killed in the courtyard of a private household. The man was stabbed multiple times. The attacker turned out to be a 30-year-old resident of the city of Gudermes. During the interrogation, he confessed that he committed the crime because of his hostile relationship with the murdered man.
The accused is Turpal-Ali Shamurzaev. After the crime, he disappeared into the forest, where he was found.