News

The 75th anniversary of the deportation of Chechen and Ingush people; CTO in Dagestan; update in the list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of February 18-24, 2019, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

On February 24, residents of the Bakhtemir village reported to the police about a man with a gun walking down the street. Law enforcers came to the place and demanded from the man to hand over his gun, but he opened fire on them and was killed by return fire. One policeman was hospitalized with wounds in serious condition. He stays in a coma, investigators report today.

The positions of the Azerbaijani forces in the Karabakh conflict zone have been shelled 25 times over 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports today.

During the week of February 18-24, 2019, a man was killed in 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.

Participants of a march in memory of Boris Nemtsov demanded to release Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny, Rostov activist Anastasia Shevchenko, and all Russian political prisoners. The marchers also called for the investigation into the murders of Natalia Estemirova and Anna Politkovskaya.

On the anniversary of Boris Nemtsov's murder, in Volgograd, seven activists held solo pickets, criticizing the superficial investigation of the crime.

The employees of the international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) have joined the march in memory of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow demanding the release Oyub Titiev, a Chechen human rights defender. The action also included a collection of signatures in support of Titiev, activists told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The practice of prohibiting travel abroad, as a method of political pressure, is widespread in Azerbaijan, says the 20-page study entitled "Freedom of Travel in Azerbaijan: Politically Motivated Travel Bans", published by the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies (CEMDS).

Commemoration of 1944 deportation of Chechens and Ingushes took place on February 23 at the monument to victims of Stalinist repression in the village of Yaryk-Su in Dagestan. Akkin Chechens and delegations from Chechnya and Ingushetia took part in the event.

The Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze, convicted for an attempt to poison the secretary of the Patriarch of Georgia, has been brought, at the request of the penitentiary administration, from a civilian clinic to a prison hospital.

The information that the person killed during the counterterrorist operation (CTO) in Belidji was a militant and had an explosive device on him is false, social network users have suggested. While expressing their mistrust to law enforcers, they referred to the resonant murder of Gasanguseinov brothers.

On February 17-23, soldiers of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan fired more than 1500 shots at the positions of the Defence Army, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has announced.

About 150 people have visited the Volgograd mosque on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of deportation of Ingushes and Chechens.

The decision of the court to arrest Magerram Rzaev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), became known to his relatives only a day after his arrest. The PFPA believes that Rzaev is prosecuted for political reasons.

Artyom Shitukhin, an LGBT activist, has stated that he began receiving threats after his personal data got into the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Germany will finance the construction of kindergartens and 236 houses for families of forced migrants from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Chechens' and Ingushes' deportation, mosques are holding morning rites; and a mourning meeting is scheduled in Grozny. Local residents did not expect the lift of ban on mourning events.

At official events on the occasion of the Fatherland Defender's Day and the 75th anniversary of Ingushes' deportation, activists expressed their protest against combining the holiday and the mourning. The speech of Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the head of Ingushetia, was accompanied by whistles and shouts.

On February 22, Zemfira Tskaeva told the court that after her husband's detention, law enforcers told no details about him; and she learned about his death from her acquaintance-morgue employee. Her advocate intends to request the materials of Tskaev's case and to clarify the alleged falsifications.

The international organization in defence of journalists, "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) has condemned the verdict rendered in Azerbaijan to Mustafa Gadjibeili, the editor-in-chief of the website "Bastainfo.com". The RWB has called on the international community to impose sanctions on those responsible for such severe measures.