News

Investigators explain clashes between Ingush activists and law enforcers in Magas with "political hostility" and used a case-law charge of "organization of violence," advocates note. A new form of persecution of activists can be used in cases on riots in other regions, the lawyers suggest.

On September 23, at a protest action in Tbilisi, independent lawyers spoke out against consideration at the parliament of a list of candidates for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court (SC). The selection of candidates was carried out on a clan (family) basis, the protestors say.

A bus driver from Ingushetia was fined and released after a conflict with law enforcers at the "Chermen" checkpoint, the Ingush Ministry for National Affairs reported. Checkpoints at the border between the republics of Northern Caucasus complicate international relations, believes human rights defender Magomed Mutsolgov.

The statement about pressure on the advocate, Nemat Kerimli, in the colony, where his client journalist, Afghan Mukhtarly, is kept, caused doubts, the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service has reported. The Kerimli's arguments were not confirmed preliminarily, the Bar Association has stated. The advocate himself treats the reaction to his appeal as biased.

Akhsan Nuruzade, an activist of the "Muslim Unity" movement, was placed into dungeon (punishment cell) after talking to inmates on the Ganja case in the colony. The colony staff is trying to limit contacts of political prisoners, said Ogtai Gyulyalyev, a rights defender.

Martin Kochesoko, the head of the Circassian public organization "Khabze", has demanded to criminally prosecute the law enforcers who detained him on charges of drug dealing. The activist claims that the drugs were planted on him, while his defence insists on the political background of his case.

Makhi Idrisov, who boasted in a social network of his friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov, was placed under house arrest for a month within the case of illegal arms dealing.

Afghan Mukhtarly, a journalist convicted in Azerbaijan, who went on a hunger strike in protest against pressure on his advocate, was placed into a dungeon (punishment cell), his wife has informed.

After his one-day visit to Grozny, Frank Schwabe, the Rapporteur of the PACE on human rights in Northern Caucasus, has admitted that the realities demonstrated to him by Chechen authorities contradicted the reports of human rights defenders on human rights violations in the republic, but promised to draw up an objective report for the Council of Europe.

The North-Caucasian Military Court has found Timur Albakov guilty of preparing a terror act and an attempt to join the "Islamic State" (IS, formerly, the ISIL), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, and sentenced him to 10 years in colony.

Law enforcers did not let Tapdyg Farkhadoglu, a correspondent of the Voice of America (VOA), to cover a protest rally in Baku, and after his detention, he was advised against shooting any more "against statehood," the journalist himself reported. His colleagues treated the incident as pressure on freedom of speech.

The President of Russia instructed the Minister of Defence to sign an agreement proposed by the Russian government with Abkhazia on financing the costs of modernizing the armed forces of the republic.

CTO in Kabardino-Balkaria; hunger strike of Afghan war veterans in Makhachkala; renaming of the Sunzha District of Chechnya, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of September 16-22, 2019, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan called the version about an attack on the border with Nagorno-Karabakh a lie and reported that deceased soldier Ramin Abdulrakhmanov got lost on the border territory.

During the week of September 16-22, 2019, two persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The election of the leader of Chechnya, won three years ago by Ramzan Kadyrov, could not be called an "election with alternative candidates," announced Djambulat Umarov, Minister of National Policy of Chechnya, on September 18. Residents of the Chechen Republic drew attention to the ambiguity of the statement voiced by the Minister.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh reported about an act of diversion committed by Azerbaijani soldiers on September 22 and about the death of one of the attackers.

In the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya, two women and a man were detained and accused by the authorities of engaging in witchcraft (devilry). On September 21, a report on this topic was shown in the news programme of "Grozny" TV company.

During his visit to the journalist, Afgan Mukhtarly, who is kept in an Azerbaijani jail, his advocate, Nemat Kerimli, complained about violence and pressure. The convicted journalist has gone on a hunger strike, demanding an objective investigation into the complaints lodged by his advocate.

Georgian authorities have extradited Ramzan Akhyadov, a 40-year-old native of Chechnya, accused of terrorist activities, to Russia. His relatives express concern about his health and future fate.