19:11, 25 August 2024

Activists demand to clear out fate of Seda Suleimanova, who escaped from domestic violence

Lena Patyaeva at a picket in Saint Petersburg. Screenshot of a video posted by 47News on August 23, 2024 https://47news.ru/articles/256198/

Actions demanding an inquiry into the fate of Seda Suleimanova were held in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tbilisi and Yerevan. Lena Patyaeva, her girlfriend, has asked the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to take control over the investigation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this April, it became known that the ICRF was investigating Suleimanova's disappearance under the article on murder. In June, Lena Patyaeva said that three months later, investigators failed to come to any conclusions, and the inquiry was being sabotaged.

Back in August 2023, Seda Suleimanova, a native of Chechnya, was detained in Saint Petersburg and taken to Chechnya. Since then, no messages have been received from her. Her friends and human rights defenders fear that she has become a victim of an "honour killing".

In Saint Petersburg, Lena Patyaeva went on a solo picket to the ICRF building with a poster "Seda Suleimanova was kidnapped a year ago. Where is Seda?"

"A year ago, she had a happy life; she had plans and dreams; and now I don't even know if she is alive," Lena has stated, noting that in recent months, stories of other fugitives have been on everyone's lips – Liya Zaurbekova and Aishat Magomedova. "Such stories give hope; in particular, in the case of Aishat Magomedova, it was the ICRF that played an important role in ensuring that the girl's fate ended positively."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 23, 2024 at 07:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: СK correspondent