News

The change of owner at the "Rustavi-2" TV Company may lead to a change in the editorial policy of the opposition-oriented TV Channel, declare Georgian human rights defenders in a letter addressed to 14 international organizations. The owner of the TV Channel assures that he guarantees journalists the preservation of independence.

By the outcomes of studying the attack on the Archangel Michael Church in Grozny, the investigators in charge have concluded that the attackers had no links with the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, the "Kommersant" writes.

Emin Shagiev, declared a political prisoner by rights defenders, was placed into dungeon (punishment cell), Djamil Gasanli, the chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) has informed, condemning the Azerbaijani authorities for persecuting relatives of journalists and activists, who are in political emigration.

The advocate of Lom-Ali Elbiev, a former head of the municipal enterprise, has appealed to the court with a complaint about the fact that investigators in Grozny three times had refused to initiate a criminal case on the defendant's torture, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has informed.

The trial of Mikhail Kalandiya, accused of killing a schoolboy in Tbilisi, takes place behind closed doors. The defence claimed no proofs of his guilt, but the court extended his arrest.

Gezyal Bairamly, a deputy chair of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has associated the refusal to issue her a foreign passport to travel abroad for treatment with her opposition activities. Ms Bairamly was pardoned by the presidential decree; and there are no obstacles for her to receive a passport, Yalchin Imanov, a lawyer, believes.

Ramzan Kadyrov’s demonstrative help to the needy with broadcasting reports on TV is a common method of self-promotion, but the real relief of people's lives justifies this practice, rights defenders believe.

At night on July 24, Volodya Galoyan, a soldier of the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh, died from the received gunshot wound, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has registered a complaint against the verdict passed to Ruslan Rakhaev, the head of the criminal investigation division of the city of Cherkessk. He was sentenced to nine years within the case of beating up a detainee to death, the "Public Verdict" Fund has informed.

More than 500 military servicemen of motorized rifle units of the Southern Military District took part in the exercises to destroy a conditional illegal armed formation (IAF), the republic's Military Commander's Office has reported.

The land around the tower located near the village of Ansalta belongs to Chechnya, Gaidarbeg Gaidarbegov, the head of the village, and Magomed Patkhulaev, the head of the Botlikh District of Dagestan, have confirmed. Such towers were built in Chechnya to protect trade routes and villages as signalling constructions and residential buildings, historians said.

The Baku Mayoralty and police did not allow the "Karabakh" Public Committee to hold a rally in protest against the protraction of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Authorities have resolved the domestic problems of the 80-year-old Khamid Lorsanov, who receives no help from his children, the "Grozny" TV Channel has reported. However, local residents suggest that the authorities have used the difficulties of an elderly man for self-promotion.

In January 2017, the victims of extrajudicial executions were strangled with a rope in the basement of the barrack of the patrol-and-post service police regiment named after Akhmat Kadyrov in Grozny, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports.

Authorities should stop persecuting the Ingush journalist, Rashid Maisigov and investigate his applications about torture, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has stated. At the trial, Maisigov refused from his confessions.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Committee against Torture (CaT) and the "Novaya Gazeta" have presented testimonies of witnesses of detentions and disappearances in the period from December 2016 to January 2017 of residents of Chechnya from the so-called "execution list".

Ramzan Kadyrov wounded Imran Dasaev, who was arrested on suspicion of murdering a policeman and taken to the residence of the head of Chechnya, in his leg, the "Novaya Gazeta" has reported.

After the ban on direct flights between Russia and Georgia, the number of Russian tourists in Georgia decreased by 21.4% in comparison with 2018. Of the tourists, almost 80% refused to travel by planes, reports the study conducted by TBC Research.

A resident of Chechnya and her father apologized on the air of the "Grozny" TV Channel for the girl's arrangements in social networks to raise money for medical treatment of a non-existent child. Local residents believe the father should not have brought any apologies for the actions of his adult daughter.

A story prepared by the state-run "Grozny" TV and Radio Company about the problems of a resident of the village of Staraya Sunzha, who did not receive help from his children, provoked a resonance among residents of the republic.