Woman is detained in Chechnya for protesting disappearance of friend feared dead in ‘honour killing’

Police in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Chechnya, have charged activist Lena Patyaeva with a misdemeanour for repeatedly violating public assembly rules after she held a solo picket on Sunday in memory of her friend Seda Suleymanova, who vanished three years ago, according to Patyaeva and her lawyer.

At a hearing expected Monday, Patyaeva could face up to 30 days in detention or a fine of up to 300,000 rubles (€3,090), her lawyer told the human rights group Slovo Zashchite and the independent outlet SOTAvision.

Patyaeva held the picket in Grozny’s Journalists’ Square on the third anniversary of Suleymanova’s abduction. The date coincided with celebrations marking what would have been the 75th birthday of Chechnya’s former leader Akhmat Kadyrov, the late father of the republic’s current head. She was detained shortly afterward and taken to a police station, where she spent more than three hours before being released. She said the officers behaved “oddly, but politely”.

Seda Suleymanova fled Chechnya for St. Petersburg in 2022 after relatives threatened to kill her for refusing an arranged marriage. The following year, Chechen security forces abducted her and took her back to Chechnya. According to Patyaeva, she has not been heard from since and may have been killed. Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a murder case into her disappearance in April 2024, suggesting authorities themselves suspect she was killed, but it has released no findings.

Patyaeva has staged regular solo pickets and petitioned Russian authorities since Suleymanova’s disappearance, demanding a full investigation.