The Ombudsman of Chechnya published a video of Seda Suleymanova, who was taken away from St. Petersburg

Chechen Ombudsman Mansur Soltaev published a video of Seda Suleymanova, who, as human rights activists reported, was taken away from St. Petersburg at the end of August. According to him, Mrs. Suleimanova is “in a good mood.”

In the video, Seda Suleimanova says nothing and silently follows Mansur Soltaev. The words of Mr. Soltaev are not heard because of the music superimposed on the recording.

According to Mansur Soltaev, Seda Suleymanova met him “in a good mood.” “I talked with her relatives and with the girl herself. I saw that she was pleased to be with her family, ”he wrote in his Telegram channel.

“Seda denies rumors and various reports related to her,” he added. According to him, she is in a “good mood”, she does not have any complaints.

Crisis group “SK SOS” (included in the register of foreign agents) reported on August 24 that police officers came to the apartment in St. Petersburg, 26-year-old Seda Suleymanova, who had left Chechnya, and her partner. Her boyfriend, Stanislav Kudryavtsev, told human rights activists that the police took him and Seda Suleymanova to the police station. After the girl was taken to Pulkovo airport to be taken to Chechnya, and he was released.

According to SK SOS, the police said that Seda Suleymanova is suspected of stealing jewelry worth 150 thousand rubles. However, she is not wanted. Seda Suleimanova denies the charge of theft; no jewelry was found on her.

Human rights activists reported that on August 25, lawyers who arrived in Grozny could not find Seda Suleymanova. In one of the police departments, they were sent to the department for the Akhmatovsky district, where, as the police claimed, they were supposed to bring the girl. The lawyers demanded not to conduct investigative measures with Seda Suleymanova without them. It later transpired that she was interrogated without lawyers as a witness in a purse theft case in Grozny in June 2023. After the interrogation, she was immediately handed over to her relatives and was not allowed to see her lawyers.

On August 29, Mansur Soltaev announced that he had met with Seda Suleymanova and her family. He claimed that the girl was safe and doing well. He also posted photos from the meeting in his Telegram channelone of them shows a mark on the neck, similar to a bruise, in other photos of the girl it is not.

Olesya Pavlenko