News

On June 20, on the occasion of World Refugee Day, in Stepanakert, more than 40 people gathered for a roundtable "Refugees in the NKR: Status and Main Problems", organized by the NGO "Union of Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan" in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned Azerbaijani authorities for politically motivated arrests of journalists Ikram Ragimov and Polad Aslanov.

The disputable section of the border near Kizlyar, where the incident with road signposts broke out, had been offered by Chechnya to Dagestan in exchange for any other territory. However, authorities of Dagestan have done nothing to execute this exchange; and attempts to resolve this issue now are fraught with new conflicts, the Dagestani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

In the evening on June 21, in Tbilisi, protesters again gathered at the parliament building and demanded from Giorgi Gakhariya, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), to resign. Oppositionists also demanded to liberate all those detained during protests at the previous night.

Since July 8, Russian airlines are forbidden to transport passengers to Georgia. The Russian government will help organizing the return of Russian citizens from Georgia, says the decree of the President of the Russian Federation.

Zaal Andjaparidze, the coordinator of the International Centre for Conflicts and Negotiations, finds the policemen's actions in Rustaveli Avenue reasonable, as a whole, while Mamuka Zhgenti, an expert of the Georgian Institute of European Values, saw gross violations of the law in them.

The 12 residents of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR), detained on June 21 in the course of a special operation, are supporters of the "At-Takfir wal-Hijra", an extremist organization banned in Russia, the Russian FSB (Federal Security Bureau) has reported.

The court arrested four participants of the protest rally in front of the Georgian parliament for 12 days, and other several dozen people are waiting for court hearings. A reporter of a local TV channel was also detained while filming the demonstration.

In Magas, policemen who were patrolling the namaz prayer area joined the collective prayer.

Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe (CE) Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Georgian authorities to investigate the clashes in which Beslan Kmuzov, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, and other journalists were injured.

Today, Kakha Kaladze, one of the leaders of the "Georgian Dream-Democratic Movement" ruling party, has announced that Irakli Kobakhidze, Speaker of the Georgian parliament, decided to resign. According to Kakha Kaladze, the Irakli Kobakhidze's decision is related to the principles of the party.

After his release from a penal settlement colony, Oyub Titiev has reported that he will not be working for the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Chechnya. However, he has promised that he will continue his human rights activities.

This morning, a protest rally in front of the parliament building in the capital of Georgia has ended with detentions of protesters. According to the Georgian Ministry for Public Health, 240 people were hospitalized.

Today, Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has left his penal colony in Argun, where he had been imprisoned on charges of drug possession.

The refusal of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Dagestan to sanction a rally in support of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, one of the editors of the "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly, will be appealed against, said the initiator of the action. The journalists' solidarity with Gadjiev is caused by the decreased confidence in the actions of law enforcement bodies, Dagestani editors-in chief believe.

In the city of Derbent, Elena Barzukaeva and Zeinab Kurbanova have held solo pickets with a demand to release their sons, detained within the case of weapon possession.

The Chechnya's conflicts with neighbouring regions on border issues have consolidated Chechens both in the republic and abroad; however, Ramzan Kadyrov's and his entourage's scandalous statements spoil relations among nations, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

As a result of the dispersal of the protest action at the parliament building in Tbilisi, 30 protesters and 39 policemen were hospitalized with various traumas. Law enforcers detained activists, who resisted the police.

Beslan Kmuzov, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who was present at the protest action held at the parliament building in Tbilisi, was hospitalized with a wound in his head.

Malsag Uzhakhov, the head of the Council of Teips of the Ingush people, who was arrested within the case of the rally in Magas, is accused of creating an organization that violates citizens' identities and rights.