News

The head of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has offered to apply US sanctions to the entire ministry; and the commander of the "Terek" SOBR (special quick-response regiment) has linked the sanctions with the regiment's successful fight against terrorism. By their statements, law enforcers reconfirmed their loyalty to the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, local residents believe.

Investigators have suspected that two women left Ingushetia for Syria and were helping the militants of an international terrorist organization.

The heads of the of New Athos (also known as Novy Afon) Monastery have accused an opponent church grouping of an attempt to seize the monastery and called on the authorities of Abkhazia to prevent believers' clashes. The decision to close one of the most popular tourist sites will seriously harm the industry, Anna Kalyagina, the head of the Abkhaz Tourism Union, has stated.

A court in the city of Nizhny Tagil has satisfied the petition on application of the conditional early relief (CER) to Mustafa Tsoroev, convicted within the case of torture at the Ingush Centre for Combating Extremism (CCE, also known as "E" Centre).

On May 16, Fuad Gakhramanly, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was summoned to the Baku police, where he received a warning concerning his posts in social networks. Mr Gakhramanly treats the police's actions as illegitimate.

Magomed, a brother of Akhmed Pogorov, a co-chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, was fined for participating in protests in Magas; two other relatives of the activist were released without drawing up protocols.

Adam Shakhidov, a Chechen theologian, has equated the motto of Kadyrov's retinue, "Akhmat is power!", to the foundations of the Koran and the Sunnah, treating the chanting of this slogan as a duty of the residents of Chechnya. Social network users and local residents have criticized Shakhidov's statement. References to religion are often used as tools of political propaganda, and interpretations of sacral texts are adapted to the conjuncture, Islamic scholars have pointed out.

Part of the striking workers of the mining-and-refining combine, dissatisfied with the talks with the leadership, have gone on a hunger strike at the Mayoralty building of the city of Chiatura in Georgia.

The film "Dylda" (Lanky Fellow) by Kantemir Balagov, a filmmaker from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) was met with a storm of applause at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is nominated for the Queer Palm Award – for films on the LGBT topic. Mr Balagov now plans to film a story about the today's residents of the Caucasus.

This May, law enforcers threatened with arrest and dismissal from work to relatives of the Azerbaijani activists who had left for Europe, the organization "Chose Democratic Azerbaijan" (CDA) has stated. Over a month, relatives of at least 50 political emigrants were summoned to the police, said Ogtai Gyulyalev, the head of the Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners.

Law enforcers have searched the houses of Akhmed Pogorov, a co-chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, and his relatives in the city of Karabulak, and detained two Pogorov's nephews and his brother.

Actions in Georgia on the International Day Against Homophobia are risky due to possible conflicts with opponents of LGBT people, activists of the Movement for Equality have explained. In its turn, the Georgian Patriarchy announced a procession dedicated to the Day of Family Holiness.

The publication of the video in which Akhmat Kadyrov, Ramzan's father, is disrespectful of Christians and non-believers, has provoked criticism of Tumso Abdurakhmanov by some social network users. They have urged the blogger to "leave the dead alone."

The sanctions against the "Terek" special squadron and Chechen law enforcers reflect an intention to complicate cooperation in countering terrorism or fear of detachment's operations in the Arctic, the Russian Embassy to the United States has stated. Ramzan Kadyrov and his entourage have perceived the law enforcers' inclusion into the sanctions list with irony, residents of Chechnya say.

Representatives of the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) have delivered a petition signed by Western Europeans to the administration of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, demanding to investigate crimes against members of the LGBT community in Chechnya. The signatures collected in the UK have been handed over to the Russian Embassy in London.

The action of the movement "Companions of the Good" of the distribution of water and dates to fasting people in travel motivates young people to join the volunteer movement in Dagestan, activists have stated.

Georgian authorities should promptly investigate reports about the incidents during the election campaign in the city of Zugdidi, the "Transparency International Georgia" (TIG) has stated. The opposition believes that the so-called "thieves in law" are trying to influence the election outcomes in favour of the candidate from the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party. The latter has rejected the accusations, stating that opponents are trying to give a negative colour to the election of the Mayor of Zugdidi.

Bako Saakyan, the head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), and his predecessor, Arkady Gukasyan, have guaranteed to the court that the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, will not hide if released from custody. Mr Kocharyan has denied the use of Karabakh soldiers to disperse demonstrators in 2008.

Georgian miners have come out to a protest action in the city of Chiatura, demanding an increase in wages and improved working conditions. They also called on the country's authorities to publish the results of the examination of the mines in Tkibuli, where miners died.

The "Terek" rapid-response squadron, its commander Abuzaid Vismuradov and the Chechen officer Ruslan Geremeev have been put on the US "Magnitsky List" of sanctions.