I am Lena, a friend of Seda Suleimanova, who was abducted from St. Petersburg. Right now there are rumors that she has been murdered by her relatives. Otherwise, if she is alive, she is still being held captive by the very same people who threatened to kill her.
Lena said she met Seda when she was searching for a roommate. For the first few days of our life together she was somewhat avoidant and reluctant to open up. Regular small talk like asking where she was from seemed to make her anxious. I tried not to push Seda, yet I was also curious about her past.
Unfortunately, dramatic events meant I found out. A year ago, Seda’s relatives found her and tried to kidnap her. That time she was lucky to get away, but she had to quit her job and move to another place. However, even though we were no longer living together, we became friends.
I have now known Seda for just over a year, which might not seem like a long time. However, she became a closer and more reliable friend than those I have known for years.
Last summer a terrible incident, the kind that leaves a person shaken and disoriented, happened to me. Seda was one of the few whom I asked for help without any hesitation. Due to certain reasons, I can’t talk about what happened or how Seda helped me. But I can say with certainty that she saved me, and she did it selflessly, and never asked anything in return.
Seda Suleimanova is a kind, delicate, sincere, and caring person. This world would be a better place with more people like her in it.
At the same time, I know her to be brave, willful, and ready to fight for her own freedom. It takes a lot of courage and certainty to even consider running away from a traditional Chechen family while being fully aware of the lethal cost of failure.
During these dreadful times, people in Russia are afraid of their own shadows, not to mention something like the described escape. The walls have ears, the shadows have eyes, and even a fly might be a tiny drone with a camera disguised as an insect. We are way more paranoid than we ever were, we are afraid to do things that are not even prohibited yet.
On Feb. 1 I staged a solo protest in front of the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office to draw attention to Seda’s fate. I managed to stand with a poster for almost an hour before finally getting arrested. During that hour many strangers passed, but no one chose to stop and talk to me.
I know a lot of people here in Russia who want to support Seda. But they are too anxious to help in even the safest and most basic ways, like reposting the news, sharing the news and anonymous poems about Seda online.
