News

On February 12, a Sochi court ruled that the publication of "The Insider" about a poaching hunting by high-ranking officials denigrates the honour of the director of the Caucasian Reserve, and obliged the website to delete the article; however, the edition challenged the court ruling.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has reduced the punishment of the convict Azerbaijani opposition leader Mamed Ibragim and ruled to release him. The defence intends to seek the full rehabilitation of the activist, said his advocate.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has considered the complaints, filed a few years after the death of Chechen residents, Alvi Bugaev and Alkhazur Atabaev, and ruled that their relatives should receive compensations totalling more than 200,000 euros, said the advocate Dokka Itslaev.

The Turkmenchay Peace Treaty of 1828 divided the territory of historical residence of Azerbaijanis among Russia and Iran; and the subsequent actions of the tsarist regime and the Soviet authorities created the basis for the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani historians told the "Caucasian Knot".

The policemen found as victims in the case of the Krasnodar lawyer Mikhail Benyash have opposed the presence of journalists at the court sessions; and their petition was granted, the defence reports, noting that this decision is contrary to the open nature of the court sessions.

Makhir Rustamli and Idayat Rasulzade, activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), detained during the trial of their party comrade in the city of Sumgait, were found guilty of disorderly conduct (petty hooliganism). The activists are prosecuted on a trump-up accusation, the PFPA spokesman has stated.

Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia, is accused of bribery, his advocate Ayk Alumyan has stated.

From year to year, in Russia, prosecutions under antiterrorist articles is becoming more and more widespread, with a third of such cases being initiated for publishing on the Internet, a review of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" asserts.

In the village of Khadjalmakhi, Levashi District, a policeman opened fire on a car driven by a 17-year-old schoolboy and wounded the teenager.

Aram Khachikyan, sentenced to life imprisonment, is seeking a review of his case, the spokesperson of the Armenia's Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has reported.

A scotch tape with Oyub Titiev's hairs on it, which was used to wrap a package with drugs, was obtained with the use of violence as a result of a scene with threats arranged by law enforcers, an advocate of the Chechen rights defender has stated today.

A regular soldier is suspected of shooting dead Senior Lieutenant Mesrop Grigoryan, investigators have reported today.

On February 11, on the air of the Chechen TV Channel, Malida Mageramova, a resident of Chechnya, apologized for her video appeal to the authorities with a complaint about eviction from a dormitory.

During the last 24 hours, positions of Azerbaijani militaries were shelled for 21 times, including those stationed in three villages, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed today.

The Chechen authorities promise to pay 1-3 million roubles to those residents of Chechnya, who are ready to move to the Galanchozh District and run their households there.

After the release of Elnur Guseinzade, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has excluded the possibility of the release or exchange of other Azerbaijani citizens, Shakhbaz Guliev and Dilkham Askerov, who had been convicted for especially grave crimes.

Bakhtiyar Bagirov, an activist of the "Muslim Unity" Movement, was arrested for 20 days. His fate remained unknown to his relatives for five days.

The concern of the villagers of Mekhelta, the district centre, was caused by the claims of the Chechen party to 160 hectares of summer pastures, which had been used by generations of local shepherds, said the village head and a local resident.

Mesrop Grigoryan, a contract soldier, was fatally wounded in one of the military units of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.

The female judge, who is considering the case of Oyub Titiev, has refused to satisfy the defence's demand of self-disqualification. Oyub's advocates demanded to request details of Titiev's mobile phone connections on the day of his detention from mobile operators.