News

Baba Suleimanov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has been arrested for 30 days for violating the quarantine regime. The party treats the arrest as politically motivated.

The cremation of a Muslim is unacceptable, even if he dies from coronavirus, the residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" assert.

Investigators instituted a case against the journalist of the "Chernovik" (Draft) about involvement in two banned organizations.

Tezekhan Miralamli, an employee of the opposition newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom), a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), is accused of disorderly conduct. He signed a recognizance not to leave the place. The journalist pleads not guilty.

During the pandemic, a person should pray and read the Koran and should not anger Allah with singing, claim users of social networks who oppose the campaign "A concert from a balcony".

The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan has released the second statement within the past week and accused the country's authorities of "launching a new wave of repression against the opposition."

In Chechnya, for the second day there has been a ban on leaving home without a special permit. Each family is allowed to spend six hours a week for purchases. The special permit system does not work well and fails to take into account the needs of people, residents of the republic complain.

The suspension of communication with Russia has left residents of Abkhazia and those employed in the tourist sector without earnings. The pharmacies and hospitals, where pre-border villages had used to turn, are now on the other side of the border.

Residents of communities isolated due to coronavirus are voting at presidential election in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). The leaders of the "National Revival" and "New Artsakh" Parties said that holding elections in coronavirus pestholes is unacceptable.

On April 13, employees of the "Adjara Public TV" have lodged a collective lawsuit against Giorgi Kokhreidze, the director of the channel, in which they demand from him to stop interfering in journalists' work and abolish the imposed disciplinary punishments, Teona Kharabadze, a journalist, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

A ban on Sharia marriages has been introduced in Chechnya due to the threat of coronavirus spread. Clergymen are forbidden to register marriages in accordance with Islamic traditions until a special order. The residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have stated that the ban had placed those who had already planned weddings in an uncomfortable position.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has threatened to burn down cars of quarantine violators dissatisfied with policemen's actions. The Instagram users and residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted the emotionality and rudeness of Kadyrov's statement.

There is no direct prohibition of cremation in the Koran; and the need to preserve people's health and life can change the prevailing Islamic traditions, the Orientalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have commented on the contradiction in the positions of the SAMs (Spiritual Administrations of Muslims) of Russia and Dagestan concerning the burial of coronavirus victims.

The self-isolated residents of the village of Novye Atagi in the Shali District are forbidden to go out; police posts are deployed at the entrances to and exits from the village, said the villagers.

In Dagestan, the authorities of the Magaramkent District accommodated 257 Azerbaijanis in two hotels and a mosque. The residents of Azerbaijan cannot return to their homeland, because the Azerbaijani authorities closed the state border.

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Stavropol Territory has upheld the verdict to Khasan Katsiev, a participant of clashes between protestors and law enforcers in Magas. Meanwhile, the court pronounced a decision to release Khasan Katsiev from the SIZO (pre-trial prison), because his sentence had expired.

Today, the court has found Irakli Okruashvili, the former Georgian Minister of Defence, guilty of participating in riots during protests which took place in Tbilisi on June 20-21, 2019. Irakli Okruashvili is sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

In Gagra, residents of a nine-storey building are isolated in their apartments after their neighbours had been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection. For the seventh day, the people are deprived of any opportunity to go to work, visit their summer cottages, and leave the building at all. No date for the quarantine end is announced, the tenants of the building note.

Increase in the number of coronavirus victims in Southern Russia and in the countries of Southern Caucasus; celebration of Easter by Catholics and believers of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid the coronavirus pandemic; pardoning of prisoners in Georgia and Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of April 6-12, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the republic, has apologized for his words about opponents of the Chechen-Ingush agreement on the administrative border only to the elders who were present at that moment, and not to those Ingushes whom he had insulted, social network users have emphasized.