News

The Southern District Military Court found Ismail and Mukhtar Kurbanov brothers, residents of the Kayakent District of Dagestan, guilty of involvement in the ranks of Syrian militants and sentenced them to 15 and 17 years of imprisonment, respectively.

Orkhan Babaev, an investigator of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, appealed to the Azerbaijani Bar Association with a request to punish Zibeida Sadygova, a member of Bar Association, for violating the rules of conduct. Activists believe the investigator's request is aimed at removing Zibeida Sadygova from defending her client involved in the Ganja case and other political cases.

Ramzan Kadyrov asked residents of Chechnya not to be afraid of the spread of the coronavirus infection and stop buying food. The leader of Chechnya threatened that people who were disseminating panic rumours in social networks would have to apologize.

The positions of the Azerbaijani troops were shelled, including from sniper rifles, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reports today.

The Media Rights Protection Centre (MRPC) has announced a fundraising campaign to create a mobile legal directory for Internet users, says the page of the project "Legal Reference Book for Internet Users" on the "Planeta.ru" crowdfunding platform.

On March 16, residents of Chechnya complained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they were forced to take part in mass subbotniks (unpaid cleanup activities, usually on Saturdays), despite the earlier announced measures to prevent coronavirus.

Friends and colleagues of Abdulmumin Gadjiev and Murtazali Gasanguseinov have held a series of solo pickets in Makhachkala, demanding to release the arrested journalist and conduct an inquiry into the killing of shepherd brothers by law enforcers. Eleven persons took part in the pickets.

The court has found Sayedshokh Ubaidov, a resident of Adygea, to have been a recruiter of militants, despite the refusal of the prosecution witnesses from their testimonies, his defence has stated. An Ubaidov's advocate has announced the intention to appeal against the verdict.

A resident of Kizlyar, who arrived from Syria on March 14 with her two daughters, was arrested on suspicion of links with militants. The girls suffer greatly from their separation from their mother; they received no psychological help, the father of the arrested woman has stated.

Kurban-Magomed Medjidov, a visitor to the Makhachkala "Tangim" Mosque, who disappeared after he was taken away by law enforcers, was arrested on the charge of financing terrorism.

The Armenian authorities announced a state of emergency until April 14 to prevent the coronavirus epidemic.

Starting from March 18, foreign citizens will be not allowed visiting Georgia due to the threat of the spread of the coronavirus infection, the government of the country announces today.

Zurab Tsechoev, the former head of the public organization "Mashr", insists on the compensation to be awarded to him for torture in a building of a law enforcement body and the punishment for the guilty persons, reports the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", which lawyers represent the Zurab Tsechoev's interests in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

On March 13, Shamkhan Baidulaev, a native of Chechnya, who came to his homeland from Germany to visit his relatives, was kidnapped by unidentified persons in the Achkhoi-Martan District, his brother reported.

Protests against a law on amendments to the Constitution of Russia; restrictions in the countries of Southern Caucasus in connection with the spread of coronavirus infection; court ruling in a case of Dagestani residents killed in Chechnya, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 9-15, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of March 9-15, 2020, 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.

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Ossetia, and Ingushetia showed the worst figures in the rating of Russian regions in terms of unemployment. The best regions in Southern Russia are the Rostov Region and the Stavropol Territory.

Georgia is not threatened by a shortage of foodstuffs; the warehouses have enough of them for several months, the country's authorities have stated. The residents of Tbilisi, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", have complained about the rise in foodstuff prices.

Investigators in Grozny began investigating the beating case of the journalist, Elena Milashina, and the advocate, Marina Dubrovina, only a month after the incident; to achieve this, she had to go to Chechnya and personally complain to the local prosecutor, Ms Milashina has explained.

Kurban-Magomed Medjidov, a resident of Kaspiysk, has disappeared in Dagestan. His friends became worried after he stopped contacting them for a long time. According to his neighbours, law enforcers had taken Medjidov to some unknown place.