News

Georgian NGOs have demanded to check the authenticity of the higher education diploma of Shalva Tadumadze, the country's Prosecutor General, who takes part in the contest for the post of Supreme Court Judge. The dates of his study given in his diploma fail to coincide with the time of work of the university he had graduated from.

Mukhtar and Ismail Kurbanov, residents of Dagestan, have told at questioning in the court how they were tortured after detention. They denied all the accusations and stated that they had self-incriminated under threats.

After the end of his administrative arrest, Tofig Mamedov, an oppositionist, was summoned to the police, where they demanded from him to quit the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). After he refused, they threatened to initiate a new case against him; however, then he was released.

Instead of Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, Lomali Baimuradov, Director General of the "Chechengazprom", has been appointed as the curator of the territorial sector that includes the Kurchaloi and Shali Districts.

The Chechen authorities use public condemnation of people who drink alcoholic beverages to demonstrate protection of Muslim values, believe experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They do not rule out that such measures can lead to the growth of drug addicts in the region.

The subsidies allocated to the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) did not remove the tension in the labour market and did not lead to a radical improvement in the investment climate, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation concluded.

Kabardino-Balkaria and the Stavropol Territory are among the ten regions with the highest percentage of families in which income is enough only for food. Ingushetia has become an outsider of the rating prepared by the "Rosstat" (Federal Service for State Statistics) in terms of the number of families which can only afford to buy food and clothing for their income.

As a part of a new story with public apologies of a fortune-teller, the Chechen TV Channel made public photos of local residents who addressed spiritual healers for help. Some Instagram users found it unacceptable to make public someone's personal data.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has registered a complaint prepared by human rights defenders about torture and murders in a case of killed Dagestanis in Chechnya on behalf of their relatives, the "Legal Initiative" reports.

The Krasnodar Territorial Court left Nikolai Kuzichkin, a Jehovah's Witness* from Sochi, in custody until November 24. The consideration of the appeal filed by Vyacheslav Popov, another detained believer, is postponed. According to advocate Anton Bogdanov, after the detention, Nikolai Kuzichkin was not allowed to be visited by his wife and son.

Tofig Yagublu, a member of the coordination centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), was beaten up after being detained by law enforcers on the day of the rally in Baku on October 19, said his daughter Nigyar Khazi. According to the advocate, Nemat Kerimli, Yagublu has his rib, shoulder and leg damaged.

The police actions during an unauthorized rally in Baku on October 19 were condemned by the Council of Europe, the European External Relations Service, the PACE and the US Embassy in Azerbaijan.

The mother of Magomed Doliev, whose death was imputed on employees of the Ingush "E" Centre, has disagreed with the awarded compensation since she demanded ten times more.

The tradition of stopping a wedding procession (cortege) for claiming ransom exists in Chechnya and in neighbouring regions, but in urban conditions it becomes dangerous. Authorities should take measures so that the custom does not lead to accidents and traumas, the Orientalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The Deputy Qadi, who refuted the jinns' attack on the house of a Vashendaroi villager, has got involved in the practice of public reproaches, characteristic for Chechen authorities. Reprimanding in public of people by clergymen is not welcomed in Islam, said Akhmet Yarlykapov, an Islamic scholar.

Seven Ingush protest leaders, suspected of calling for mass riots, refused to undergo a psychological and psychiatric examination in Stavropol. The activists were threatened that next time such examinations would be appointed in a region still farther from the SIZO (pre-trial prison), said the advocate.

Investigators have evidence that people from militants' encirclement transferred money to Khamukovs, residents of Baksan, but there are no proofs that the "One Body" Fund used these funds for criminal purposes, said the advocate. He explained Lianna Khamukova's testimony against her brother Asker by law enforcers' pressure.

During the week of October 14-20, 2019, no one fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The Deputy Qadi of the Shatoi District of Chechnya, who had earlier called on people not to believe reports of a genie attack on a local resident's house, admitted that Alims had to confront genies in the village of Vashendaroi. Instagram users were surprised by the inconsistency in the statements voiced by the religious leader.

Denial of information about a conspiracy against Ramzan Kadyrov; unsanctioned protest action in Baku; completion of the protest action of Afghan war veterans in Makhachkala, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of October 14-20, 2019, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".