News

The Baku authorities refused to sanction a rally in central Baku of those who disagree with the outcomes of the recent parliamentary elections and offered the organizers to hold it in the dwelling settlement of Lokbatan located in a suburb of the capital.

The Moscow court dismissed the appeal of the "International Memorial" for a fine of 300,000 roubles, which was imposed after the inspection by the FSB Department for Ingushetia. Human rights defenders said they would challenge the decision at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Soldiers Tigran Manvelyan and Tigran Mkhoyan got fatal gunshot wounds in military units, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh reported.

Members of the City Duma of Grozny announced a contest for the position of Mayor, which became vacant after Ibragim Zakriev had been transferred to the administration of the leader of Chechnya. Isa Khadjimuradov, the first deputy head of the city, was appointed the acting city mayor.

After the verdict had been pronounced to Giga Ugulava, one of the leaders of the "European Georgia" Party, the EU External Action Service (EEAS) reminded the Georgian authorities of the independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial. The opposition rejected the calls of the "Georgian Dream" to resume a dialogue interrupted after the arrest of Giga Ugulava.

The panel of the Supreme Court (SC) dealing with the Ugulava's case is now headed by Shalva Tadumadze, who was the Prosecutor General of Georgia during the investigation. The presentation by the same person of different parties in the trial is unacceptable, the Georgian Ombudsperson and NGOs have emphasized.

The qualification commission of the Dagestani Bar Association has stopped the disciplinary proceedings against the lawyer, Sapiyat Magomedova.

The police have set free all those detained at the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC) during their protest against election falsifications. About 10 activists sought medical help.

The NGO "Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre" (HREMC) has lodged a lawsuit to the Tbilisi City Court demanding to postpone the sentence to Giorgi Mamaladze in order to place him to hospital.

Candidates for MPs and voters supporting them have come out to a protest rally held in front of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, stating falsification of the elections. Policemen have violently dispersed the protesters; some detainees were injured, activists report.

The publication on the Internet of a video showing detention of a blackmailer in Ingushetia can be regarded as negligence, which entailed grave consequences in the form of the murder of the woman who was occasionally filmed, lawyers believe. Residents of Chechnya, while condemning "honour killings", have sympathized with the alleged killer.

The German Prosecutor's Office has issued a warrant for the arrest of the person, suspected of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, in order to question him again.

Publications of Chechen media approving the beating up Elena Milashina and Marina Dubrovina indicate that the attack had to do with Ramzan Kadyrov's call to crack down on authors of gossips about Chechnya, human rights defenders believe.

The arrests of Amirkhan Bekov, Isropil Nalgiev and Mukharbek Mamatov, participants of the rally in Magas have been appealed against. Investigators failed to prove their guilt, their advocates assert.

At trial, Ibragim Dugiev, a participant of a rally in Magas, admitted his guilt in attacking a fighter of the National Guard of Russia. The defendant insists that he was not guided by any political motives, but stood up for women and elderly people. The Prosecutor's Office requested the court to sentence Ibragim Dugiev to a year of imprisonment.

During the past 24 hours, the positions of the Azerbaijani Army stationed in the villages on the border with Armenia and in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled for 21 times, including with sniper rifles, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.

On February 10, Ramzan Kadyrov appointed his nephew, Mayor of Grozny, Ibragim Zakriev, as the head of the administration of the head and government of Chechnya. Local residents treat Zakriev's new appointment to be a continuation of the cadre policy of the head of the region.

After the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to increase the punishment under the embezzlement case, Gigi Ugulava, a former Mayor of Tbilisi and one of the leaders of the "European Georgia" Party, has voluntarily surrendered to law enforcers. Leaders of oppositional parties and movements treated the toughened verdict as a political repression and refused to negotiate with authorities.

On February 10, relatives of the Derbent residents, accused of terrorism, held a picket demanding to stop lawlessness in the republic. Female relatives complained about health problems of those arrested, and about the obstacles to visiting them.

Due to problems with documents and money, five children from Karachay-Cherkessia, who were taken out of Syria to Moscow on February 7, cannot fly home. Several families were separated due to the absence of documents.