News

The six oppositionists, who held a hunger strike in Azerbaijani colonies, demanding to release the blogger Mekhman Guseinov and other political prisoners, have stopped their protest. They explained this decision by the closure of the case against Guseinov and the public outcry, which they managed to achieve by their hunger strike.

For the first time, Russian authorities have made use of the repressive law on "undesirable organizations" to prosecute the Rostov activist, Anastasia Shevchenko, the Amnesty International (AI) has stated. She faces up to six years in prison.

The indictment in the case of Mustafa Gadjibeili, the editor-in-chief of the oppositional website "Bastainfo.com" has been announced at a session of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. The advocate has treated the charges as unjustified.

There are no plans to create rubrics for public apologies in Chechnya, authorities and television professionals have explained, noting that the words of Minister Djambulat Umarov were misinterpreted. This happened amid new plots with repentances.

Three minor guys, who confessed to vandalism, put in order the memorial "Memory" in the park of the Dagestan city of Kizlyar. Users of social networks have approved the public punishment of the guys, expressing regret that the video failed to show their faces.

The Speakers of the Parliaments of Chechnya and Dagestan have decided to clarify the historical boundaries of the two republics in order to enter this information into the state real estate cadastre, the authorities of the two regions have announced.

The issue of writing off Chechnya's debts for the supplied natural gas has put the Russian authorities in a difficult position; the Kremlin is at a loss, experts say.

There are no legal grounds for catching critics of the authorities and forcing them to repent, the lawyer, Evgeny Chernousov, has noted.

The journalist Afghan Mukhtarly, held in jail in Azerbaijan, reports pressure on him in the colony. He said that a provocation was being prepared against him in order to put forward new charges against him.

The court has obliged the media company to refute the data about Robert Kocharyan, containing slander and defaming his honour and dignity, and to pay over USD 800 to the second Armenian president.

In Samara, the Prosecutor's Office (PO) has demanded to treat Muslim literature, including the book with the interpretation of the Koran in the translation of the Azerbaijani religious philosopher Elmir Kuliev, as extremist materials.

The hunger strike held in the office of the "Musavat" Party was stopped after the Prosecutor's Office (PO) closed the case against Mekhman Guseinov.

The first meeting of officials of Chechnya and Dagestan to define the border between the two regions was held in Makhachkala.

The prosecution has supported the version of the mass failure of video surveillance cameras on the day of Oyub Titiev's detention; and the court refused to examine these cameras. The court rejects all the defence's petitions and fails to provide evidence in Titiev's favour, said Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate.

Vlad Pogorelov, an activist, has encountered opposition of law enforcers and Cossacks at a picket in Volgograd against persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya and other Russian regions.

Chechnya's Prosecutor's Office (PO) has unreasonably filed a lawsuit against the Gazprom to write off the debts of local natural gas consumers. The PO has been instructed to support the Gazprom's appeal, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has announced.

The Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliev, reacted to Mekhman Guseinov's innocence statement; and investigators have stopped the new criminal case initiated against the blogger, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has announced. Emin, Mekhman's brother, has treated the authorities' decision as a concession to the international community.

The court's judgement on writing off the gas debts of residents of Chechnya has no amount of 9 billion roubles. The Chechen Prosecutor's Office (PO) has removed the debt amount from its press release.

The court has refused to add the conclusions about the incorrect investigation of the cannabis, for the keeping of which Oyub Titiev, a rights defender and the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", is accused, to the case files. The court has explained this decision by violation of the rules for holding examinations.

Activists Zafar Akhmedov, Rafig Bakhyshov and Fizuli Guseinov continue their hunger strike in the office of the "Musavat" Party. The journalist Khadija Ismayilova and activist Aigul Djafarova have stopped their hunger strike. At least five political prisoners continue their protest.