News

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has dismissed the motion filed by the defenders of Oyub Titiev, the head of the "Memorial" office in Grozny, who sought to change the territorial jurisdiction of the client's case, and extended the arrest of the rights defender until July 25.

The Nenskra River, which came out of its banks, swept off the bridges to the village of Chuberi in Georgia. Some of the houses in the village have been flooded, reported Nino Vibliani, the spokesperson for the Mestia district municipality. Residents of Chuberi believe the flooding was caused by a mountain collapse and construction of a hydroelectric power plant.

Today, the defence of Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Grozny, has unsuccessfully requested to challenge the judge considering the transfer of the rights defender's case to another region.

In the Grozny District, the water supply to the villages is too irregular, and people have to buy water from private traders, but they also have to pay for municipal water supply, local residents complain.

On July 4, the Armenian government approved the idea of the police to forgive fines accrued by drivers for violating the traffic rules. The initiative of the authorities astonished the drivers who paid fines in due time.

Today, during a court hearing, public prosecutor has stated that the defence of rights defender Oyub Titiev tries to politicize his case and unreasonably declares the authorities' pressure on Chechen judges. The defence reminded the court of the negative statements voiced by the leader of Chechnya against Oyub Titiev. 

Yunis Safarov, detained on suspicion of attempting to assassinate Elmar Veliev, Mayor of the Azerbaijani city of Ganja, was earlier wanted in the case of an attack on a policeman.

A Russian citizen was detained after a liquid hazardous to human health was spilt at the Tbilisi airport. As a result of the incident, seven persons were hospitalized with signs of poisoning.

Investigators verify the involvement of Ramazan Aliev, the former chair of the Dagestani government, in several episodes related to possible abuse of authority. However, the immediate cause for the investigation was an order of the official to service his private car at the government garage, reported sources from the power agencies and the law enforcement bodies.

Mikhail Saakashvili demanded to restore his citizenship of Georgia in order to be able to participate in the autumn parliamentary elections. However, he does not have an opportunity to return to the country, believe political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Yashar Farazi and Rakhib Gurbanov, activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), are arrested for 30 days on the charge of disobeying the police. A PFPA member has associated the arrests of his party colleagues with the authorities' desire to prevent protest actions by intimidating oppositionists.

In the Dagestani city of Izberbash, law enforcers have detained a minor teenager for calling for actions to protest against the lack of water supply, and after a rally of July 3, the Mayor threatened to arrest protestors, residents of Izberbash reported.

On July 3, the participants of a rally in Elista demanded from federal authorities to abandon their plans to increase the retirement age and the law on the voluntary study of native languages at schools, urging residents of Kalmykia to vote against the United Russia Party at republic's parliamentary elections.

19 people turned to doctors after evacuation from the Baku metro; six of them were hospitalized.

Activists in Cuba demanded to release Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Centre has stated.

Ramazan Aliev, the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Dagestan (Vice-Premier), dismissed today, was detained after questioning, law enforcement sources have stated.

Kemal Kuscheterov, a lawyer, whom his colleagues declared kidnapped by law enforcers on July 3, was released this morning. A law enforcer had accused Kemal of attacking him.

In the capital of Azerbaijan, a pause in the metro operation has caused problems for residents of Baku, since because of the large number of passengers, not all of them could use buses. All metro stations were opened at about 1:00 p.m. local time, the press service of the metro reported.

The Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has studied the conclusion of the Human Rights Council (HRC) concerning the case against Oyub Titiev, the chief of the "Memorial" office in Grozny, and demanded to investigate the circumstances of the rights defender's detention.

The new administration of Grozny demanded the streets of the city to be put in order. Public employees are forced to take part in subbotniks (volunteer community works). The people complained about being sent to work in the streets in the heat.