News

On February 28, district centres of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) held marches, laying of flowers and other events in memory of the victims of the Sumgait pogroms. A documentary film about the pogroms of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan in late 1980s and early 1990s was screened in the central library of the district centre of Gadrut.

A female resident of Makhachkala had joined militants and took part in a robbery and kidnapping of two persons, the Prosecutor's Office (PO) has stated.

In his video appeal, Eldar Iraziev, a comedian actor and a blogger, who is popular in Dagestan, has said that law enforcers put him on the police prevention registration list as an extremist after he had spoken about nightclubs. When commenting on the scandalous performance "Hunting for Men", the blogger called for the introduction of censorship in Dagestan.

During ten years, the murder of Natalia Estemirova has never been effectively investigated, the "Amnesty International" (AI) declares on the birthday of the murdered rights defender who would celebrate her 61st birthday today.

The verdict in the case on financing the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) is not justified and unfair, and therefore, it will be challenged, advocates of the sentenced activists announce.

Today, over 20 opposition parties have started to collect signatures under a petition to completely abandon the mixed proportional majority system in favour of the proportional system at the 2020 parliamentary elections. Opposition members explain their petition by the fact that under the current proportional majority system, the ruling party gains most of the mandates in the parliament.

A participant of the trip arranged by the commission on the demarcation of the Dagestani borders reported about a dispute between a local entrepreneur and residents of Chechnya over construction at the border.

Today, the North-Caucasian District Military Court has found residents of Ingushetia guilty of preparing terror acts at the French Embassy in Moscow and sentenced them to imprisonment for the terms from 12 to 20 years.

During the last 24 hours, positions of the Azerbaijani Army were shelled for 22 times, including those stationed on the border with Armenia, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported today.

A criminal case has been initiated against a road-and-patrol service (known as DPS) inspector suspected of beating up a resident of the Kayakent District of Dagestan, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported. In its turn, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) asserts that physical force was lawfully applied to the man after he disobeyed the policemen.

The issue of refugees' return, including from Sumgait and the payment of compensations to them should be discussed at the official Azerbaijan-Armenia talks, but it is not raised, said Avaz Gasanov, the head of the Azerbaijani Society for Humanitarian Studies. The issue of paying compensations to refugees from Sumgait can only be considered in conjunction with the issue of compensations for damages to all the victims of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, Shakhin Gadjiev, the editor of the "Turan" News Agency, believes.

The Ingush activists, Ismail Nalgiev, Bagaudin Khautiev and Khasan Katsiev were summoned to the Centre "E" (Centre for Combating Extremism – CCE) and interrogated by law enforcers. The questions concerned the mourning rally on February 23 in Nazran, at which the head of the republic was booed, the activists said.

The organizers of the play "Hunting for Men" in Dagestan have promised to check all the performances for compliance with local notions of morality after Khabib Nurmagomedov criticized the event. The Dagestani Council of Elders has expressed concern about the aggressive reaction to the performance and called for tolerance.

The investigators, who examined the private house in Nalchik, where three alleged militants were killed, have found, along with submachine guns, a pistol and grenades, components for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, introduced in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, has been lifted.

On February 27, the three defendants in the case of funding sources for the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 years to 7 years and 3 months. Two other defendants received conditional terms.

Today, the commission, headed by Ekaterina Tolstikova, a Vice-Premier of Dagestan, went to the three districts bordering on Chechnya to discuss the border demarcation with members of local self-governments. The commission includes a historian and a journalist delegated by activists.

In the Yerevan courtroom, supporters of "Sasna Tsrer" detachment and those of the victim-policeman quarrelled about the credibility of his testimonies. After the opponents used physical force, the judge allowed only the trial parties and journalists to stay in the courtroom.

The former Defence Minister had withdrawn himself from registration in Stepanakert, and his name was not on the voter list, reported the Karabakh police on February 26.

On March 13, the Nazran District Court will start a consideration of the case on preparation of an assassination attempt against Imam Khamzat Chumakov, reports today the Court's press service.

Three persons killed today by law enforcers during a special operation in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, were plotting a terror act, reported the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC). According to the NAC, nobody else suffered in a shootout.