News

The US PEN International (PEN America) has linked the new criminal case against the blogger Mekhman Guseinov with the suppression of the dissent in Azerbaijan. Guseinov, who is on hunger strike at the Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison) in protest against the new indictment, needs an urgent surgery, Shakhla Gumbatova, his advocate, has stated today.

Chechnya and Ingushetia have held events in memory of Saint Kunta-haji Kishiev on the occasion of the 155th anniversary of his deportation. According to the Ingush authorities and the Chechen clergy, several thousand people took part in events. Residents of Chechnya said that Imams had warned them about the must to participate in religious ceremonies.

Five residents of Chechnya, whose car was stopped by law enforcers at the entrance to Vladikavkaz, have complained about the nationality-based prejudiced attitude.

Today, a court in Baku has found eight participants of the action in support of the blogger Mekhman Guseinov to be infringers of the rules of holding meetings. The activists themselves disagree with the judgement.

Today, a large pavilion has burned down at the Upper Marketplace in Pyatigorsk. There were no victims. According to eyewitnesses, the fire-fighting teams could not drive to the venue because of concrete blocks.

The Armenian party has asked to extradite Narek Sargsyan, who was detained in Prague within the case of possessing narcotic drugs and firearms, the Armenian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) announced on January 3.

Over the week, after returning to Chechnya, two participants of all-Russian contests received Mercedes cars from the Kadyrov Foundation. Residents of the subsidized republic recognized the merits of the contestants, but criticized the authorities of Chechnya for such expensive gifts.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Karabakh conflict zone, including in two border villages, have been shelled, reports today the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan.

The number of non-combat losses in the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan remains high; and information about them is silenced, experts told the "Caucasian Knot".

Three journalists and two activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), detained at a rally in defence of the blogger Mekhman Guseinov in Baku on January 3, are in custody pending trial. The other ten detainees were released.

Law enforcers for several hours are detaining five residents of Chechnya at a checkpoint in North Ossetia, insisting on a special inspection of their car. The staff of the checkpoint failed to motivate the need for the inspection and took the documents away from all the family members, Malika Mazaeva, 31, a resident of Grozny and one of the detainees, told the "Caucasian Knot".

Moscow doctors are consulting their colleagues who have operated on the three-year-old boy wounded in Derbent. The boy's health condition does not yet allow transporting him to other medical institutions, the Ministry of Public Health of Dagestan has informed.

Four journalists and other activists have been detained today in Baku for holding a rally in support of the blogger Mekhman Guseinov; the police stopped the action five minutes after the start thereof. Still, it was a success, as many passersby managed to pay attention to it, the participants of the event believe.

On January 2, Arman Yegoyan, the press secretary for the Prime Minister of Armenia, reported that the cost of Russian gas for Armenian consumers will not rise due to reduction of the expenses incurred by the Gazprom Armenia.

Today, in Derbent, a fire has broken out on a roof of a five-storey residential building. All tenants have been evacuated.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army have been shelled in two districts, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.

A question on expulsion of former members of the Astrakhan Regional Duma from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party, involved as defendants in a case on rape and corruption of minors, will be resolved at a next meeting, reports the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party.

An electronic system of administering pension contributions has been launched on the website of the Pension Agency of Georgia. Registration therein is mandatory for all employed citizens, as well as for employers.

A three-year-old boy was taken to hospital in Derbent with a gunshot wound after he went with his parents to a New Year's fireworks, the Ministry of Public Health of Dagestan has reported. Instagram users have criticized gun owners for the rash use thereof.

Eight mayors of cities and districts of Georgia, as well as MPs, ministry officials and judges have been fined by the Public Service Bureau after checking their property declarations.