News

In Chechnya, commanders of the patrol-and-post service regiment were replaced after human rights defenders had mentioned the unit in connection with beatings of detainees. The appointment of Zamid Chalaev from the Ramzan Kadyrov's teip (family clan) as a commander of the regiment is not related to the publication of the information about torture, believe law enforcers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The positions of the Azerbaijani army were shelled, including in the villages located in the regions bordering Armenia, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.

In Gyumri, there are still about 2800 temporary buildings accommodating people who lost their houses during the earthquake of 1988, announced Vaan Tumasyan, the head of the "Shirak Centre". Victims of the earthquake say that for 30 years they have to live in rotten cabins and almost lost the hope to get new apartments.

Policemen have explained the ban by the fear that a commemoration of Elnur Faradjov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), may have a political nature.

Chechen law enforcers have convoyed Kurban Kurbanaliev, a detained native of Dagestan, from the Shelkovskoy District to Grozny, his sister told the "Caucasian Knot".

Relatives of Samat Tatarkhanov and Ramazan Zakaryaev, residents of Buynaksk, accused of links with militants, are planning protests to draw attention to their case.

A large mosque will be built in the village of Mairtup in memory of Tamerlan Musaev, the head of the ROVD (District Police Division), the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has announced. This news has surprised local residents, already accustomed to the names of Kadyrov's relatives being given to mosques.

Law enforcers have confessed that under pressure they gave false testimonies against the rally participants, the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party has announced.

Today, Azerbaijani border guards haven't let Parviz Gashimli, the editor-in-chief of the website "Gununsesi.org", to leave for Russia, because of the ban imposed by the Baku City Prosecutor's Office, the journalist himself has reported.

Alexander Cherkasov, the board chairman of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", detained in Moscow for a rally on the anniversary of the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Grozny office of the HRC "Memorial", has been fined by 10,000 roubles.

In Grozny, law enforcers carry out raids and write down the personal data of young people wearing beards, report city residents. The fact that a passer-by wears a beard is not a legitimate reason for stopping him, note veterans of the law enforcement bodies.

Journalist Orkhan Jemal and his colleagues killed a year ago in Central Africa were watched by local law enforcers and people related to the "Wagner's PMC" (Wagner's Private Military Company), announced the "Dossier" Centre in its report released today.

In Moscow, after detention of activists at a rally for fair elections, law enforcers kept people in a paddy wagon for about six hours, claimed Dagestani blogger Kerim Gamidov, one of the detained activists.

Today, searches were conducted in the office of the "Ecological Watch for North Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and in the home of activists Leonid and Marina Zaprudin, Andrei Rudomakha, the "EcoWatch" coordinator, Arina Lisovets, an eco-activist, have reported.

The ceasefire regime in the Karabakh conflict zone was violated for 19 times during the last 24 hours; two villages in the districts bordering on Armenia came under fire, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed today.

On July 29, only about 300 people rallied in Tbilisi; therefore, organizers decided that actions in August will continue in the format of conversations and performances, and will resume in the former format from September.

Law enforcers have detained Morice Machalikashvili so that his relatives would stop collecting signatures to the petition demanding to set up a parliamentary commission to investigate the circumstances of Temirlan Machalikashvili's death, said the father of the young man killed in a special operation.

Several tens thousand people never took part in the rally of the oppositional "Alliance of Georgian Patriots" Party in Batumi; the number of participants was barely three thousand, Georgian experts told the "Caucasian Knot". The media of Adjara practically did not cover the rally.

A court in Baku has arrested Elman Guliev, the head of the youth organization of the "Musavat" Party, who was detained on July 29 during a protest against the criminal prosecution of Azad Gasanov. The rest of the detainees have been released.

After the appeal of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (known as the HRC), the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Russia has initiated a check of the inquiry of the case of financing of terrorism, in which Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a journalist of the "Chernovik" (Draft) edition, is a figurant.