News

The owner of a catering facility that was working contrary to the announced quarantine has been arrested, as well as five residents of Azerbaijan detained in the streets, the country's police have informed. Over 3700 people were fined for violating the restrictions due to coronavirus.

The women, whose husbands perished in armed conflicts or were arrested on charges of terrorism, suffered severe psychological traumas, the participants in the roundtable have stated after the report of the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre (CAPC).

Ramzan Kadyrov has defiantly humiliated Aslambek Akhmetkhanov, who could not respond to the insult and was afraid to openly conflict with Badrudin Yamadaev, said the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov. Social network users criticized the story of the journalist, who tried to justify Kadyrov's behaviour in the situation with Yamadaev.

Among those pardoned by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, there are only two political prisoners, but there are generals from the Ministry of National Security (MNS), convicted of dozens committed crimes, human rights defenders report.

Because of the coronavirus, the holy Muslim month of Ramadan may pass without collective prayers and solitude in mosques, but fasting cannot be cancelled, Imams of Northern Caucasus believe. They also made a recommendation not to visit relatives during the celebration of Uraza Bairam.

Ramzan Kadyrov decided to reward the law enforcers who humiliated a resident of Argun, because punishing "own people" contradicts the principles of the power system in Chechnya, blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov claims. The law enforcers did not have the right to humiliate the man, and by such actions they embitter local residents against themselves, YouTube users note.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev signed a decree on the early relief of 176 prisoners over 65 years old in connection with the spread of COVID-19.

Araik Shakhpazyan, a soldier of the Defence Army, was wounded by a shot from the Azerbaijani side, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh reported.

The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan has condemned the authorities for repressive measures against oppositionists. Members of the NCDF claim that the government uses the pandemic situation "for reprisal against its political opponents."

A resident of the Achkhoi-Martan District of Chechnya demonstrated ingratitude when posting on the Internet a video in which he showed bread and green tomatoes he had got from the authorities as assistance. The above opinion was expressed by social network users.

Georgian authorities have extended the ban on air travels until April 30. Marketplaces are closed in districts because of non-compliance with sanitary standards; and in Tbilisi, street disinfection is carried out.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his comrades-in-arms have made a collective prayer, despite the prohibitions related to the threat of coronavirus spread. Residents of the republic have expressed their bewilderment at the violation by the authorities of their own prohibitions.

The head of Chechnya has promised to reward policemen for beating a quarantined violator in the city of Argun and announced his readiness to "beat up people with truncheons and put them in jail" in order to protect the population from coronavirus.

After the video appeal of the wife of Aslambek Akhmetkhanov, who asked Ramzan Kadyrov to forgive her husband, Facebook users have rebuked the head of Chechnya of trying to use women and children with the aim to put pressure on the entrepreneur.

Spread of the coronavirus infection and new methods to combat it in Southern Russia; special operation in the Stavropol Territory; presidential and parliamentary elections in Nagorno-Karabakh; updated list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 30-April 5, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Chechen law enforcers have publicly subjected a man to humiliating beatings for the absence of a medical mask, a lawyer of the Committee against Torture (CaT) has informed. Instagram users have also criticized law enforcers' actions.

A resident of the Achkhoi-Martan District has issued a video message with his apology for the video, in which he mockingly commented on the food package received from the authorities. The man has apologized involuntarily, his fellow countrymen have suggested.

Since April 5, Azerbaijan introduced a permissive system of travels: one category of people may travel freely, the second – through the online registration, and the third one – after receiving a permit by means of an SMS message. Activists saw a violation of fundamental freedoms in these measures.

Tezekhan Miralamli, an employee of the "Azadlyg" newspaper, was summoned to the police in connection with his critical post placed in social networks about law enforcers' work during the quarantine regime. The police released the journalist after taking his explanatory note and a promise to remove the post.

An employee of a private medical centre closed for quarantine has found herself without a salary or state assistance, while living in a rented apartment with her two children.