Police in St. Petersburg detained a Chechen woman who ran away from her family after receiving death threats due to “insufficient religiosity”

In St. Petersburg, police kidnapped a Chechen woman who ran away from her family; she may be taken to Chechnya, where she faces “honor killing” for “insufficient religiosity,” reports the crisis group SK SOS.

On the evening of August 23, police with two Chechens in civilian clothes came to 26-year-old Seda Suleymanova and her boyfriend Stanislav Kudryavtsev, after which they were taken to the 54th police department.

Police reported that the girl is suspected of stealing jewelry worth 150 thousand rubles. However, she was not put on the federal wanted list, and no jewelry was found on her. At the police department, the girl’s fingerprints were taken, but they did not formalize it in any way.

After Suleymanova’s detention, the officers informed her boyfriend, Stanislav Kudryavtsev, that they would send the girl to Pulkovo airport, and from there to Chechnya. Lawyer Mark Alekseev was unable to find the girl in the airport building. At the 54th police department, where the lawyer arrived to clarify Suleymanova’s whereabouts, they reported that the girl had been taken “a long time ago” by Chechen security forces.

The abduction of escapees under the guise of a criminal case is a common practice by which people are returned in Chechnya, recalls SOS.

In October 2022, Seda Suleymanova contacted the SOS Investigative Committee because she was afraid that her family might commit an “honor killing” - relatives from Grozny were not satisfied with their “insufficient religiosity,” the crisis group reported. In 2023, Suleymanova got a job in St. Petersburg and decided to live there.

In February of this year, her brothers already tried to kidnap her, but she managed to escape. After that, she changed her address and place of residence.

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