News

More than 600 Azerbaijani citizens are still on the border with Dagestan after 120 of their countrymen were taken home, said Elnur Guseinov, the vice president of the Union of Russian Azerbaijanis. People are building self-made housing and suffer from heat and unsanitary conditions, Asim Tagiev, a resident of the campground, has informed.

Gyulnara Mekhtieva, the coordinator of the Azerbaijani feminist movement, has held a solo picket in support of the students, who had been sanctioned the day before after their action at the building of the Ministry of Education in Baku. She and two other female activists were detained.

The proposal of the Russian Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) found no support among the Muslims of Dagestan and Ingushetia interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They believe that clergymen should not hope for the observance of security measures by believers visiting mosques. The Imams of Makhachkala mosques prefer to wait for epidemiologists' conclusions.

The Southern District Military Court has sentenced Ali Aliomarov, a resident of Dagestan, to three years in prison within a case of promoting terrorist activities.

In a case against residents of the town of Kajaran, whose detention provoked a protest action, three out of five defendants were arrested. The defence requested the court to release Babken Ambartsumyan on bail, because he took care of his family members, including his sick child. However, the court dismissed the motion filed by the defence.

In the Stavropol Territory, the court found Rezvan Ozdoev, a participant of a rally in Magas, guilty of attacking a law enforcer. The defendant was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony, but was set free, because he had spent a year in a SIZO (pre-trial prison).

In Chechnya, 98% of residents support the authorities' measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus infection, Ramzan Kadyrov announces. While commenting on Instagram on his statement, local residents argue that people lost their incomes because of the quarantine regime, and the system of permits is excessively strict.

While commenting on a video, in which a resident of Dagestan apologized for his harsh remarks addressed to policemen, retired law enforcers have noted that the practice of public apologies will not take root in Dagestan. Local traditions accept only the sincere recognition of one's mistakes, the leader of the Dagestani law enforcers' trade union emphasizes.

The ban on collective Friday namazes (prayers) imposed because of coronavirus is now cancelled in large mosques, the Muftiate of Chechnya has declared. The selective mosque reopening looks illogical, Instagram users and locals have stressed.

All the participants of the meeting of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, with hospital chief physicians, a report about which was shown by the "Grozny" TV Channel, were without medical masks. The mandatory mask regime is ignored by officials and doctors themselves, residents of the republic were indignant.

After Ramzan Kadyrov signed a decree on the second stage of easing quarantine, there are more people in streets of Grozny. However, the mask regime is still in force; and some passers-by were detained by law enforcers, the townspeople have informed.

In 2019, the Chechen Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation raised a record amount of 6 billion roubles as donations – 2.7 times more than in 2018, the "MBKh Media" has reported.

Six Azerbaijani students, who held an action in Baku, demanding to cancel summer exams and liberate students from paying for the second semester due to the coronavirus epidemic, have been fined for violating the quarantine regime. One of them was arrested for 15 days for disobeying the police.

The law enforcers' version about the armed resistance of those killed in Sunzha and about their involvement in the underground is causing doubts, since law enforcers have failed to provide any evidence of these allegations, human rights defenders assert.

The coronavirus morbidity in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) does not allow restarting collective prayers in the republic's mosques, Alim Sizhazhev, Deputy Mufti of the KBR, has announced. Believers have met the decision of the Muftiate with understanding, but they anticipate the mosque reopening.

Starting from June 1, Chechnya allows walking not far from home and playing sports in the street. The authorities also announced a decision to open dental offices and beauty and hairdresser salons. Users of social network urged the authorities to abolish the system of permits as soon as possible.

A resident of Ingushetia was killed on the "Caucasus" highway, and investigators consider a version of blood-feud-related murder, a source from the law enforcement bodies reported.

By voicing statements about the possible development of hazardous pathogens in the Lugar laboratory, Russia is trying to give itself extra weight in the eyes of the international community, since the world pays great attention to biological safety, political analysts suggest.

Spread of the coronavirus infection in the Caucasus; CTO in Ingushetia; complaints from medical officers working with coronavirus-infected patients in Southern Russia; protest of Russia's Bar Association in defence of colleagues in Kabardino-Balkaria; return of Ramzan Kadyrov to public after the information about his illness, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of May 25-31, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Police raids to find violators of the self-isolation regime and high fines imposed are criticized by residents of Grozny.