News

The Georgian activists, who lined up in a living chain near the "David Garedja" Monastery Complex on the border with Azerbaijan, were closely watched by border guards of the two countries. Mamuka Bakhtadze, the Georgian Prime Minister, has stated that the solution of the problems of border demarcating and disputed territories will take a lot of time.

Law enforcers have announced a federal search for Akhmed Pogorov, a co-chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, who figures as a witness in the case of clashes at a rally in Ingushetia. Mr Pogorov could face an arrest, his advocates say.

In Chechnya, theologians have set the size of Zakat Al-Fitr (alms mandatory for Muslims) and Kaffarat (redemptive action for breaking the fast) in the amount of 100 and 50 roubles, respectively.

On Friday, May 3, law enforcers conducted another raid near the "Tangim" mosque in Makhachkala. At least two parishioners were taken to the police station.

Shafag Agabalaeva, the editor-in-chief of the website "Bakupress.az" has gone on a hunger strike after her arrest within a drug dealing case. Her supporters have suggested that she was slandered for her publications about the sale of psychotropic drugs at pharmacies. Her website had written a lot about the problem of drug addiction, human rights defenders have stated.

Aganik Zoroglyan, a military serviceman, was seriously wounded by a shot from the Azerbaijani side, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has reported.

Law enforcers threatened with a murder to Olga Moskvitina, an intersex activist, detained at the "Monstration" event in Makhachkala on May 1. According to her story, after the detention, she was forced to undress.

Azerbaijan has problems with access to information and an extremely limited advertising market; journalists are harassed; and websites are blocked, participants of the conference in Baku have stated. They called on the authorities to ensure the freedom of local media.

From April 28 to May 4, Azerbaijani soldiers fired more than 3000 shots at the positions of the Defence Army, Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has stated.

Participants of the Cossack gathering and a meeting of the Council of Atamans in the Kalachyovsky District of the Volgograd Region have drawn attention of the authorities to the cruel beating of the farmer Evgeny Sychov, a Cossack. His son told about his father's years-long conflict with the natives of Chechnya, but the police believe that it was just a domestic incident.

Georgian MPs have approved the introduction of fines, arrests and corrective works for sexual harassments in public places and at work.

Ramzan Kadyrov continued his remote dispute with blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov about his father and equated Akhmat Kadyrov with Prophet Muhammad. Residents of Chechnya have treated this comparison as incorrect. Kadyrov has equated his father to the prophet in an effort to win believers' sympathy, Orientalists believe.

On May 3, relatives of Giorgi Mamaladze, a priest, who was found guilty of trying to poison the patriarch's secretary, launched an action demanding from the Georgian Church to submit a petition asking to pardon the convict.

In Baku, a group of journalists timed their protest action against the restriction of their right to leave Azerbaijan to the World Press Freedom Day marked on May 3. The protesters were accepted at the Prosecutor's Office and promised that soon the ban on their leaving the country would be lifted.

Contrary to the authorities' idea, the T-72 tank installed in Shali, became a reminder of two military campaigns in Chechnya, residents of the city believe. The monument is associated with the victims of the conflict in Chechnya, observers have noted.

On May 2-3, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces made 330 shots at the positions of the Karabakh Defence Army in the vicinity of the village of Madagiz, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has informed.

The Ingush Council of Teips (family clans) has complained to the President of Russia about the persecution of protesters and asked Mr Putin to protect Ingushes' rights in the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia. The appeal will give no expected result, users of the YouTube have suggested.

The lack of authorities' attention to problems in the Pankisi Gorge has led to a violent dispersal of the action of opponents of the construction of hydropower plants (HPPs), the head of the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has stated. Authorities are afraid of the aggravation of the situation, analysts believe.

The detentions and arrests of all those who took part in the May 1 actions, including in the "Monstration" in Makhachkala, have violated people's rights to the freedom of peaceful assembly, the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has stated.

The Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly has demanded from the Armenian authorities to suspend the work of Russian border guards at the "Zvartnots" Airport after an incident of non-admission of the Ukrainian MP into the country.