News

Playing music from minarets was a result of neglect and negligence of bodies of power, the political analysts and residents of Dagestan interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

Relatives of Vadim Cheldiev, a North-Ossetian opera singer, suspected of beating a policeman, have recorded a video appeal addressed to the law enforcers, who became eyewitnesses of the incident at the fuelling station. Members of the Cheldiev family clan asked law enforcers to meet them and tell who really hit the policeman.

The "Georgian Dream" Party never committed itself to the release of political prisoners as part of an agreement on the system for holding parliamentary elections, Archil Talakvadze, the Speaker of the Parliament, has stated. In their turn, oppositionists claim that authorities are trying to evade their obligation.

New generation communications technologies pose no threat to the health of North-Ossetian residents, the republic's information technology and communications department has assured.

A group of Armenian and Azerbaijani filmmakers have made a film about the conflict dated to the 26th anniversary of signing a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. It shows a possibility of cooperating in difficult political conditions, the NGO named "Reconciliation Resources" that has supported the project believes.

In a multi-storey apartment block in Kartoziya Street in the New District of Sukhumi, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Abkhazia and the state security service found a large hideout with weapons and ammunition.

In Dagestan, since the beginning of the pandemic, 481 people died from viral pneumonia, the leader of the republic reports today. According to him, in April 2020, the incidence of pneumonia increased by 33.6% compared to 2019.

Seven residents of Karachay-Cherkessia were detained on suspicion of firearms trafficking. An underground workshop was organized in a house of one of the suspects, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reports today.

Malkhaz Rekhviashvili, a presenter of the "Adjara" TV Channel, the chairman of the Alternative Trade Union, was dismissed from his position after he supported his colleague who had been suspended from the air. Malkhaz Rekhviashvili announced the intention to challenge the TV Channel director's decision on his dismissal in court.

Agil Gumbatov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), who was placed for compulsory treatment to the Republican Psychiatric Hospital in the village of Mashtaga, complained of bad health state after treatment with unknown drugs. A spouse of Agil Gumbatov fears for her husband's health state and demands to release the activist.

Residents of Chechnya complain to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the impossibility to get through phones of the "hotline" of the operational headquarters, engaged in solving all issues related to current restrictions imposed because of the spread of the coronavirus infection.

The restrictive measures introduced during the coronavirus pandemic are used by the Azerbaijani authorities to arrest oppositional activists, the US Helsinki Commission has stated.

Because of the difficult situation with coronavirus in Dagestan, the republic's Muftiate has invited Muslims to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr (Uraza Bayram, or end of fasting) within their families. Believers are advised not to invite guests, not to visit cemeteries, and observe the self-isolation regime.

Despite the fact that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has announced, since May 12, a relaxation of the restriction regime introduced due to coronavirus, Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, has stated that so far there have been no changes in the self-isolation regime. Instagram users criticized the decision not to lift restrictions and reminded Daudov about Kadyrov's words.

Mikhail Saakashvili, the third president of Georgia, remains the most significant figure of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party and ensures its funding, Zaal Andjaparidze, a political analyst, has noted. His colleague, Ramaz Sakvarelidze, believes, in his turn, that Saakashvili has ceased to be perceived in Georgia as a Georgian politician.

Arthur Bugulov, a resident of North Ossetia, has been arrested until June 21 on charges of hooliganism, despite his positive test for coronavirus, his advocate, Sergey Denisenko, has informed.

The message that Dagestanis are unhappy with the broadcast of military songs from the loudspeakers installed on mosque minarets in Dagestan arrived on May 11 at the SMS service of the "Caucasian Knot".

In the city of Derbent and in the Derbent District of Dagestan, about 700 Azerbaijani citizens are waiting for the opening of the Russian-Azerbaijani border. For them, it was decided to set up a tent camp, for 210 places so far.

Azerbaijani activist Jeikhun Rzaev, who was detained in Mingachevir, was sentenced to 10 days of arrest for disobeying the police. Members of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) treat the activist's arrest as politically motivated.

A resident of Irafsky District set fire to a school, a kindergarten, and a private building out of personal hostility, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported. The police version of hooliganism is unconvincing, note Instagram users. They suggest that someone's economic interests stay behind the arson attacks.