22:38, 25 August 2023

Within 24 hours, rights activists failed to locate Seda Suleimanova

Seda Suleimanova. Screenshot of the video https://theins.ru/news/264507

The Saint Petersburg police have refused to clarify the fate of a native of Chechnya, Seda Suleimanova, who was detained on August 23, the SK SOS Crisis Group* has informed. Law enforcers gave contradictory information to Seda’s advocate and partner, who tried to find her.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 23, the 26-year-old Seda Suleimanova, who had fled from Chechnya to Petersburg, and her partner were visited by policemen, who took them both to the police station, stating that the girl was suspected of stealing jewellery. Then the young man was released, and Seda was taken to the airport to be sent back to Chechnya.

In October 2022, Seda turned to the SK SOS Crisis Group*, as she was afraid that her family might commit an "honour killing" – her relatives from Grozny were dissatisfied with her absence of religiosity.

A source from the above Crisis Group said that nothing was known about the fate of Seda Suleimanova and her whereabouts.

Earlier, human rights defenders reported that the advocate had failed to find Suleimanova in the airport building, where, according to the police, Chechen law enforcers had taken her. The Saint Petersburg police handed Seda over to Chechen law enforcers.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 24, 2023 at 10:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Naim Suleimanov

Source: СK correspondent