News

Mass protests in Tbilisi and Russia's ban on flights to Georgia; release of Chechen human rights defender Oyub Titiev; sentence of a law enforcer in the case on the murder of a Kabardino-Balkarian resident; armed incidents in Dagestan and Chechnya; protest actions in connection with the arrest of a Dagestani journalist, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of June 17-23, 2019, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Today, the mothers of the detained Islam Barzukaev and Gasan Kurbanov began a protest rally in Derbent, demanding to release their sons, a Kurbanov's female relative has informed.

During the week from June 17 to June 23, 2019, in the course of the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, at least five people died, whereas no information was received about the wounded ones. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The tourists from Moscow interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" told that they felt safe in Georgia and mourned about aggravated Russian-Georgian relations.

On June 23, 3900 people took part in the rally "Society Demands Justice", held in Moscow as part of the All-Russian action. The rally declared support for the arrested Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev and the Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko.

The attack on a DPS (road-and-patrol service) unit, committed in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, in which one policeman and two attackers were killed, was the second since the start of 2019 in the republic.

Films with translation into Russian have been stopped in Georgian movie theatres; all films are screened in Georgian or English, the Tbilisi Cinema Association has announced. The restart of screening films in Russian is still open.

Two supporters of the terrorist organization "Islamic State (IS), banned in Russia by the court, were killed in the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, the Russian National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) has reported.

The protesters, who came to the building of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi on June 22, have voiced out three demands to the authorities, including release, by the end of the day, of all those detained at previous actions.

On June 22, eight journalists were detained, while picketing in support of the journalist, Abdulmumin Gadjiev in Makhachkala. All the journalists were released after recording their personal data.

Former workers of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Zamchalovsky Anthracite" have elected a representative, who will defend their interests in courts and the prosecutor's office, Gukovo picketers, who marked the third anniversary of the start of miners' protests, have informed.

Law enforcers have brought Shamil Abashilov, a former editor-in-chief of the "Youth of Dagestan" newspaper, to a police station, after he went out to the Prosecutor's Office in Makhachkala to hold a solo picket in support of Abdulmumin Gadjiev.

On June 16-22, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces used mortars and grenade launchers during their shelling attacks on the troops contact line, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has informed today.

Two out of 54 victims of the dispersal of the action in Tbilisi at night on June 21 are in resuscitation wards, one is in the intensive care unit, doctors have informed today.

The units of the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire for 20 times by using large-calibre machine guns, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed today.

On June 20, on the occasion of World Refugee Day, in Stepanakert, more than 40 people gathered for a roundtable "Refugees in the NKR: Status and Main Problems", organized by the NGO "Union of Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan" in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned Azerbaijani authorities for politically motivated arrests of journalists Ikram Ragimov and Polad Aslanov.

The disputable section of the border near Kizlyar, where the incident with road signposts broke out, had been offered by Chechnya to Dagestan in exchange for any other territory. However, authorities of Dagestan have done nothing to execute this exchange; and attempts to resolve this issue now are fraught with new conflicts, the Dagestani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

In the evening on June 21, in Tbilisi, protesters again gathered at the parliament building and demanded from Giorgi Gakhariya, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), to resign. Oppositionists also demanded to liberate all those detained during protests at the previous night.