News

The Chechen TV and Radio Company published a video filmed in 1998, in which Akhmat Kadyrov criticized Aslan Maskhadov's opponents. Residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted that the video appeared against the background of discussions between blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov and Chechen officials.

Azerbaijan will not initiate a large-scale war in Nagorno-Karabakh, but local confrontation in the conflict zone cannot be ruled out, believe Armenian political analysts and military experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The phenomenon of torture and severe ill-treatment of persons detained by members of law enforcement agencies remain widespread in Chechnya and the neighbouring republics, but the Russian authorities persistently fail to improve the situation with human rights in Northern Caucasus in the light of the Council of Europe's recommendations, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) states.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered the Russian authorities to pay more than one million euros of compensation to relatives of 11 people detained by soldiers during the second Chechen military campaign. The ECtHR began to appoint more substantial compensation to relatives of disappeared persons, notes an advocate from the "Legal Initiative".

In Armenia, law enforcers detained a soldier of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army on suspicion of killing regular soldier Karen Karapetyan.

The Untsukul District Court of Dagestan recognized the fact of officials' inaction after a counterterrorist operation (CTO) in the residential settlement of Vremenny.

Ayub Tuntuev, a former security officer of the President of Chechnya, sentenced in cases on a terror act and on an attack on Pskov paratroopers, was found dead. The prisoner complained to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) about torture, rights defenders remind.

In the course of the second exchange of fire within two days on the border with Iran, a man who tried to illegally enter the territory of Azerbaijan was killed, the law enforcement bodies report today. This is the third victim of armed incidents, which were reported since March 10.

Today, soldier Karen Karapetyan has died from a gunshot wound on the territory of a military unit. The investigation into the circumstances of the incident is underway, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Nagorno-Karabakh reports.

An investigation into the case against four natives of Dagestan, accused of plotting explosions at a concert of Russian pop singer Philip Kirkorov in Makhachkala, has been completed, an advocate reports today. According to him, the defendants deny that they were plotting a terror act.

On March 11, activist Vadim Cheldiev, Honored Artist of North Ossetia, was detained at the Moscow airport after his arrival from Vladikavkaz. According to the activist, law enforcers asked questions concerning his political views.

The authorities of South Ossetia announced opening the border with Georgia starting from March 15. The border crossing was closed in January because of the outbreak of swine flu.

The positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces were shelled 29 times during 24 hours, and three border villages were hit by fire, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.

Before leaving for Syria, Magomed Saidov finished school as an external student and managed to finish three courses at the Medical and Dental University in Moscow. Parents spent half a year searching for him in Turkey, where he stayed before he got directly into the conflict zone, from where it was reported about his death during a bombing.

Advocates requested the court to acquit Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny. The defence stated that the case was fabricated and connected with his human rights activities. Oyub Titiev himself said that the trial "broke a record of hypocrisy and cynicism."

Lydian mining company warned the Armenian government about plans to appeal to an international arbitration court in connection with the illegal blockade of roads leading to the Amulsar gold mine.

On March 11, Alik Abdulgamidov, a journalist from Dagestan, held a solo picket in Red Square in Moscow. He demanded from the authorities to support the local businessman, who is building a school in the Magaramkent District for his own money.

Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has expressed confidence that the verdict in his case would be accusatory. At the trial, he named some law enforcers, who fabricated his drug possession case, and asked his European colleagues to raise the issue of sanctions.

The popularity of blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who criticizes the Chechen authorities, has increased significantly after his public disputes with subordinates of Ramzan Kadyrov. An authorities' attempt to discredit the blogger has resulted in an increase in the number of people viewing videos posted by Tumso Abdurakhmanov, believes Umar Tatiev, the author of kavkaz_leakbez channel on Telegram.

A case on the injury of a soldier of the 102nd Russian base in Gyumri has been solved, and a suspect has been detained, report investigators.