News

Magomed Daudov, the speaker of the Chechen parliament, and the blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, during their dispute over who is responsible for extrajudicial executions in the republic, interrupted each other and accused of hypocrisy. The new discussion with a blogger was treated by residents of Chechnya as a failed attempt to take revenge after the past discussions.

The attacker on David Napetvaridze, a member of the oppositional "European Georgia" Party, was detained. David's wife has linked the incident with her husband's political activities.

Magomed Daudov, the speaker of the Chechen parliament, showed on his Instagram a resolution to stop the criminal case against the Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov. The blogger himself said that he had not received any notifications from investigators.

A resident of Armenia tried to set fire to his car at the Yerevan Mayoralty. Policemen detained him and took him to a psychiatric hospital.

In its report on the past parliamentary elections in Armenia, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) recommended to improve oversight of campaign finance. Observers also advised further enhancing special measures to promote women candidates, so as to strengthen the participation of women in public and political life.

In the period from March 3 to March 9, the Azerbaijani forces fired more than 2300 shots at the positions of the Defence Army, reported the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Nagorno-Karabakh.

Blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov appeared to be more convincing in a discussion with Magomed Daudov, the speaker of the Chechen parliament, concluded YouTube users. They hope that Ramzan Kadyrov will continue a dispute with Tumso Abdurakhmanov.

The office of the Ingush Ombudsperson man for human rights in Ingushetia has received information about Khizir Dugiev, whose fate was unknown for more than six months, after he was detained in Egypt. According to the Ombudsperson, the young man is in a Cairo prison.

Law enforcers would not investigate cases of sexual violence, while the Georgian legislation fails to comply with international standards, women-picketers have stated in Tbilisi.

Doctors had to amputate a foot of a sapper from Armenia, who was wounded during demining in Syria, the Centre for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise has informed.

Yunus-Bek Evkurov has estimated the deportation period of the students detained in Egypt as one-two months, but their relatives doubt the estimate. They deny the detainees' involvement in extremism, but they fear that students will face criminal prosecution at home. Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst, believes that the case is unique.

On March 8, a memorial event was held in Nalchik on the 75th anniversary of the deportation of Balkars. Some locals found it inappropriate to celebrate the International Women's Day on a tragic date for the nation.

The refusal of some residents of Chechnya and Dagestan to celebrate March 8 is associated with religious motives. Young people in Dagestan tend to perceive March 8 as an ordinary day; while older people, out of habit, celebrate the holiday, said Makhachkala townspeople. Residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, who commemorate the Balkars-deportation victims on March 8, would like to celebrate the Women's Day on another date.

Senator Ziyad Sabsabi, who has returned the son of a resident of Dagestan from the Middle East, explained that the child had been stolen from the refugee camp by "our militaries." His words contradict the authorities' version that the boy was kidnapped by unknown persons, residents of Chechnya have noted, expressing doubts that a child was found in Syria in a few days.

The President of Georgia has not enough levers to implement her initiatives, political analysts have stated after Salome Zurabishvili's speech on the Georgia's Euro-Atlantic policies. On March 6, the opposition boycotted the president's speech in the parliament in protest against election frauds.

Today, some residents of Chechnya have refused to celebrate the International Women's Day for religious reasons. The woman's cult is one of the national traditions in Chechnya, said Saipuddi Nataev, a historian. The eighth of March was perceived in the Caucasus as a state, not family holiday, said Sergey Arutyunov, a researcher of the Caucasus.

Since 2001, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has made over 250 decisions on complaints about violent disappearances of residents of Chechnya and Ingushetia, the lawyers of the "Legal Initiative" Project and the Ingush branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" have stated. The ECtHR's decision on the disappearance of 17 residents of these republics has already entered into force.

On March 7, the US Congress Committee approved a resolution calling for the investigation into the murder of the oppositional politician Boris Nemtsov and to impose sanctions against those who were involved in it. The congressmen also offered to study the foreign business assets of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Doctors assess the condition of a Russian serviceman of the Russian military base, who received a stab wound in Gyumri as stably grave.

Policemen prevented activists from marching in protest of violence against women. They explained their actions by the fact that the march was not sanctioned. Female activists argue stating that holiday actions require no sanctioning.