The authorities of Chechnya showed a photo of Seda Suleimanova, kidnapped from St. Petersburg

Mansur Soltaev, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Chechnya, published on his Telegram channel a photo of Seda Suleimanova, who was kidnapped in St. Petersburg. He said that she “is safe” and that “nothing threatens her”.

Soltaev claims that he talked both with her and with her relatives. According to him, Suleymanova “feels good, there are no violated rights and there is no oppression in relation to her.”

Seda Suleimanova ran away from her family due to threats of “honor killing” and lived in St. Petersburg with her partner Stanislav Kudryavtsev. On August 23, they were both taken from an apartment in St. Petersburg by four men, two of whom introduced themselves as police officers, and the rest were Chechens in civilian clothes, Kudryavtsev told human rights activists. The young man was released, and Suleimanova was detained on suspicion of stealing 150,000 rubles worth of jewelry and was told that she would be taken to Grozny. The girl’s valuables were not found. To whom, according to the official version, they belonged is also unknown. Human rights activists believe that the case of theft was fabricated – this is a widespread scheme of kidnapping people in Chechnya.

On August 25, Suleymanova was interrogated in Grozny without the participation of lawyers, and in the status of a witness, although her status as a suspect was cited as a reason for her detention in St. Petersburg. She was also forced to sign a waiver of the services of lawyers, although such a document can only be signed in the presence of lawyers. After the interrogation, Suleymanova was handed over to her relatives – her uncle and aunt – on the way out of the police department, the lawyers were never able to meet her.

In February of this year, Suleimanova was already tried to be kidnapped by her brothers, after that she had to change her job and address, reported “SK SOS”. She turned to human rights activists in October 2022, fearing “honor killing” by her relatives due to insufficient religiosity. It was then that the girl ran away from Chechnya.