News

Azerbaijani authorities make a maximum use of quarantine restrictions to neutralize the opposition, since they fear mass protests amid the crisis caused by coronavirus and drop of oil prices, human rights defenders assert.

After the flash mob initiated by Ramzan Kadyrov, law enforcers have appeared in the streets of Grozny with their heads shaved bald. This trend has voluntarily-forcibly touched on some state (budget-funded) organizations, local residents inform.

Victoria Simonenko, a 25-year-old resident of Novokubansk, has been put on the wanted list within the case of training in a militant camp in Syria.

For the fifth time, the prosecutor's office has convinced investigators to resume the case of torture of Evgeny Bunin, a resident of the Tuapse District, human rights defenders have informed. The victim himself intends to achieve the punishment of the law enforcer who had tortured him.

The authorities are obliged to find ways to organize street trading under the state of emergency and help small vendors, who have lost their incomes due to the imposed restrictions, the Centre Human Rights for Training and Monitoring has stated.

This year, the traditional mass march to the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, held on the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, was cancelled because of the coronavirus. Residents of Armenia understand the need of restrictive measures and have paid tribute to the victims by means of a virtual rally.

In Chechnya, military manoeuvres in the vicinity of villages in the Nadterechny District are a stage of ordinary military exercises, not related to the socio-political situation in Northern Caucasus, military observers Alexander Golts and Pavel Felgenhauer believe. Political analyst Alexander Perendjiev does not rule out that the Russian federal troops have demonstrated their presence amid a mass protest in North Ossetia.

Starting from April 27, in Azerbaijan, shops and a number of service sector enterprises will resume operation. Restrictions will be still in force for shopping centres and malls, reports the operational headquarters.

The leader of Chechnya said that an allegation about secret prisons in his house was rumours spread by mentally unhealthy people. In confirmation of his statement, Ramzan Kadyrov spoke about the inspection of the house by prosecutors.

The decision of the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan to acquit Ilgar Mamedov and Rasul Jafarov, former "prisoners of conscience," confirmed the practice of prosecution of activists in the country for political reasons. The cases against other six activists from the so-called "Ilgar Mamedov group" have not yet been reconsidered, in contradiction to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and repressions in the country continue, human rights defenders state.

In Chechnya, participants of a domestic conflict apologized for their behaviour on a video posted on the Internet by another person. A woman from Vladikavkaz also had to apologize after her video was made public.

Russian authorities should investigate the threats addressed by the head of Chechnya to Elena Milashina, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper and ensure her safety, the European Union (EU) has stated.

An initial test for coronavirus of Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, proved to be positive, but it was decided to hide the fact, Ramzan Kadyrov said, adding that the repeated Daudov's test was negative.

Officials and law enforcers have followed the example of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who shaved his head bald in response to requests of republic's residents to open barbershops closed as a coronavirus quarantine measure.

Teona Turmanidze, a journalist of the "Adjara TV", was removed from live broadcasting after her critical posts in social networks criticizing the policy of company bosses. The Georgian coalition "For Media Advocacy" has called to stop persecuting TV professionals for their position that doesn't match the bosses' one.

Armenia is the leader in the number of deaths of coronavirus patients among the South-Caucasian countries; as of April 23, the count of victims in Armenia reached 49.

The prosecution has achieved stricter custody conditions for the six participants of the rally in Magas, who were found guilty of assaulting law enforcers. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has linked the sentence tightening with the recent dispersal of a rally in North Ossetia.

In the capital of Georgia, the police dispersed a rally, participants of which protested against the extension of the state of emergency. A similar protest action took place in Batumi, the capital of Adjara.

The Muftiate of Dagestan reports that in Makhachkala, a mosque has been allocated for the ablution of the COVID-19 victims' bodies, and theologians are on duty around the clock at the mosque to answer questions from believers.

The introduction of a self-isolation regime has exacerbated social problems; the number of victims of domestic violence during the quarantine period has increased sharply, human rights defenders assert.