News

The decision to start on May 23 an audit of the activities and finances of the "Mashr" was taken on the instructions of the authorities of Ingushetia, said Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights NGO.

The Nalchik City Court has sentenced Murat Kalmykov to 2 years and 8 months in prison for links with Syrian militants, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has informed today.

On May 21, the indictment was presented to Yana Antonova, the coordinator of "The Open Russia"* in the Krasnodar Territory, within the criminal case on participation in an organization that is undesirable in Russia.

The Supreme Court (SC) of South Ossetia has upheld the refusal of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to register seven nominees for MPs; the claims of six other candidates have arrived at the SC. The voter turnout will be low, one of the candidates has suggested.

The ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone was violated for 22 times during the last 24 hours; two border villages came under fire, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed today.

The journalist, Fuad Abbasov, detained in Moscow, was accused of violating the immigration legislation. His advocate says the journalist was beaten up during detention.

The protest actions in Abkhazia made amendments to the programme of the commemoration day of the victims of the Caucasian War and Circassians' deportation from the Caucasus. Most of the events were cancelled.

About 10,000 military servicemen are taking part in the exercises, launched on May 20 in Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported. In its turn, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has stated that the undeclared exercises violate the commitments to the OSCE.

During his talks with the opposition, President of Abkhazia Raul Khadjimba has agreed to postpone the presidential election. The voting will take place on August 25; and Aslan Bzhaniya, the leader of the opposition will be able to take part in the election.

For the first time in the last 15 years, a mourning march to the walls of the Russian Consulate General in commemoration of the victims of the Caucasian War and the deportation of Circassians from the Caucasus has been banned in Istanbul, activists inform.

At their assembly, residents of the village of Tsentaroi have unanimously voted for renaming the village in honour of Akhmat Kadyrov, the Public Chamber of Chechnya has reported. At the entrance to the village, the name has already been replaced by "Akhmat-Yurt".

The cassation instance has upheld the verdict passed to the former Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, sentenced to three years in prison within the case of abuse of power when pardoning the convicts sentenced for killing a businessman.

The equestrian march held today in Nalchik attracted more than 170 horsemen, said Aslan Kudaev, the organizer of the march. A mass march of Circassians in national costumes with Adyg flags followed the horsemen's march, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Four protesters demanding resignation of Bako Saakyan, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), who were detained by policemen on May 20, received verbal warnings. Activists insist that they did not violate the Law "On Freedom of Assembly".

Under the pretext of their concern about Aslan Bzhaniya's participation in the election, supporters of the opposition are seeking an early resignation of the President of Abkhazia, Raul Khadjimba has stated today in response to protest actions in the republic.

On May 20, Sandra Roelofs, a candidate for the post of Mayor of the city of Zugdidi, declared that she did not recognize the official outcomes of the election; while the opposition is launching protests all over Georgia.

A petition for conditional early relief (CER) of the Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev has been submitted to the Shali City Court, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has informed today.

Today, policemen blocked the centre of Nalchik, freeing the way for participants of the equestrian march commemorating the victims of the Caucasian War.

The call of Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Premier, to block courthouses is beyond the Armenian legislation, said Larisa Alaverdyan, a former Armenian Ombudsperson. The police failed to take actions to unblock courthouses, as they obey the Prime Minister, not the law, Avetik Ishkhanyan, a rights defender, believes.

Vera Deryabina, the mother of Abubakar Edelgeriev, now an advisor to President Vladimir Putin, the former teacher of Akhmat and Ramzan Kadyrov, has been buried in the Kadyrovs' ancestral village. Thousands of people, including the republic's leadership, arrived to commemorate the teacher.