News

In the course of the election campaign in Azerbaijan, oppositionists have faced administrative resources, which casts doubt on the democratic nature of the elections, the NGO “Institute for Democratic Initiatives” has stated. The elections are held according to the scenario common for the authorities, journalists have noted.

Ramzan Kadyrov sets up an Advisory Council aiming to strengthen his power in Chechnya, local residents assert. Kadyrov’s idea came up with the decision of Vladimir Putin to strengthen the status of the Russia’s State Council, political analysts have noted.

In Russian jails, they are biased towards natives of the Caucasus, residents of Chechnya have noted after posting the video with the beating of the prisoner Khasdin Murtazaliev. The video refutes the recent Ramzan Kadyrov’s statement about the respectful attitude to Chechens in jails, the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, has noted.

Rights defenders are wary about the bill that allows the Armenian police to tap citizens' phone calls.

The Baku police are not investigating the incident with Sevgiya Ismailova, a Russian citizen, who has stated that she is exposed to domestic violence in Azerbaijan because of her sexual orientation.

Earlier, Yuri Chaika, the new presidential envoy to Northern Caucasus, has showed himself as a defender of human rights, notes human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina.

Three women from Dagestan filed complaints to the Prosecutor's Office about the fact that they had been deprived of the opportunity to visit the largest swimming pool in Northern Caucasus, activist Svetlana Anokhina reported.

After a transfer to a penal colony in the Saratov Region, Timur Tumgoev, a native of Vladikavkaz, sentenced on the charge of involvement in the ranks of Syrian militants, was placed to a punishment cell without any explanations. This was reported by a female relative of Timur Tumgoev.

The positions of the Azerbaijani troops on the border with Armenia and in the Karabakh conflict zone were subjected to 23 shelling attacks within 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported.

The case about the participation of Ruslan Bataev, a resident of Chechnya, in an attack on a company of the Airborne Forces (paratroopers) in 2000 has been brought to court. This is the second case against Bataev, already convicted for an attack on military servicemen in the village of Chervlyonnaya.

Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, the head of Ingushetia, has criticized his subordinates for unresolved problems of forced migrants and demanded from them to give, before the end of February, a reasoned answer on whether they can claim compensations for their lost housing.

A part of the society in Dagestan perceives "honour killings" with understanding, although there is no justification for such crimes, journalists have noted.

Alexander Kananyan, a resident of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), has gone on a hunger strike, demanding to stop the construction of small hydropower plants (HPPs) on the Trtu River and check the environmental safety of all HPPs in the region.

Arthur Nalbandyan, a serviceman of the Defence Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), has died in an accident, the NKR’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

The election campaign for the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan passes amid restriction of political freedoms and absence of favourable competitive environment, says the report of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEMDT).

In Chechnya, relatives of victims of road traffic accidents voluntarily give up blood feud to persons guilty of the accidents, Caucasian experts report after two cases of reconciliation of families in the republic which occur during a week.

Starting from January 20, one of the largest swimming pools in Northern Caucasus, located in Kaspiysk at the "Anji Arena" sports complex, banned women from visiting it.

Aminat Lorsanova claimed that in Grozny, she had been subjected to violence by her relatives and a specialist in "expelling genies." The young woman left Russia with the help of the "Russian LGBT Network".

Members of the National Assembly of Armenia passed a bill introducing to the Armenian Criminal Code the special articles on bringing to suicide in the army. The maximum punishment for the above mentioned crime was increased from 5 to 14 years of imprisonment.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded compensation of 80,000 euros to each complainant in cases on 20 natives of the republics of Northern Caucasus who were kidnapped in 2000-2006.