News

The policemen, who had accused the lawyer Mikhail Benyash of beating them, had no noticeable injuries after the conflict with him, Sergei Sakhno, the head of the Krasnodar criminal search division, has stated to the court. The prosecution witness gave testimonies useful for the defence, Mr Benyash believes.

Law enforcers have detained three residents of Cherkessk, who made a photo with leaflets in support of Martin Kochesoko, the head of the Circassian NGO "Khabze", their relatives has informed.

Tumso Abdurakhmanov will appeal against the decision of Polish authorities to deport him to Russia. This document does not oblige the blogger to return to his homeland, Albert Kuznetsov, a lawyer, has stated.

During a protest rally of opponents of the former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, held outside the building of the Court of Appeal (CoA) in Yerevan, there were clashes with policemen; three activists were detained. The court session on Kocharyan's case was postponed till June 19.

The "March of Dignity" will take place in the capital of Georgia, despite the law enforcers' statement about their inability to ensure safety of participants thereof, the organization named "Tbilisi Pride" has announced.

Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, accused his Dagestani counterpart Khizri Shikhsaidov and law enforcers of Dagestan of disrupting the demarcation of borders between the two regions and the incident with the demolition of road signs near Kizlyar.

Today, in Makhachkala, the court has pronounced the decision to take into custody Abdulmumin Gadjiev, the editor of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), suspected of financing terrorists.

Today, the North-Caucasian District Military Court has announced a guilty verdict against residents of Crimea who were accused of involvement in the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia by the court. The defendants, who pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to 12-17 years of imprisonment.

In Makhachkala, the defence requested the court to release Abdulmumin Gadjiev, the editor of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), who was suspected of financing terrorism. During the court hearing, supporters of the detained journalist held pickets.

When commenting on the public apologies voiced by three residents of Chechnya, the lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted that drinking alcoholic beverages in the course of Eid al-Fitr is not an offense and the law enforcement bodies have no legal grounds to blame citizens for violating religious norms.

The Polish Border Guard Service decided to extradite blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, well-known for his criticism of the Chechen authorities, to his homeland. This was reported by the blogger himself on June 17.

Over the past day, the ceasefire on the contact line of troops was broken 20 times, and two villages near the border with Armenia were shelled, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.

Kemal Tambiev, detained on suspicion of financing terrorism, reported to his advocate that he testified against Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a journalist of the "Chernovik" (Draft), under pressure and signed an interrogation report without reading it.

An advocate and family members of a person sentenced for giving false testimony in the case on the murder of two schoolchildren in Tbilisi appealed to the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. They request to bring to criminal responsibility investigators and prosecutors who considered the resonant case. In case if their appeal is ignored, the defence threatens to organize protest actions.

Avtandil Mamedov, an Azerbaijani citizen, has been detained in Georgia at the request of Baku. Azerbaijani human rights defenders fear that Mamedov will face arrest and torture in his homeland.

The participants in the action demanded resignation of Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia; they distributed potatoes among passersby, explaining that this is a reminder of bribery during the election campaign.

By decree of Russian President, Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, has been awarded the Order For Merits to Fatherland of the 4th Degree, Ramzan Kadyrov informed on June 13. By its rewards, the Kremlin "is buying loyalty of regional elites," the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe

The investigating authorities have received the testimonies of Maxim Lapunov that along with him the secret gay prison in Chechnya also kept Andrei Kobyshev, a native of the Volgograd Region, who had disappeared in Grozny, the Radio Liberty reports with reference to Vladimir Smirnov, a lawyer of the Committee Against Torture (CAT).

The week from June 10 to June 16, 2019, passed without victims to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Demolition of road signposts on Chechen-Dagestani border; early release of Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev; unrests in Tbilisi due to possible gay parade, – read about these and other events in the weekly review of the main events in the Caucasus that took place on June 10-16, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".