News

Policemen have pushed the employees of the edition "Futbol+", who protested against the stop of governmental financing, away from the presidential Administration. Three journalists, who wanted to cover the action of their colleagues, said they were detained and spent three hours at the police station.

Investigators have started, with an almost three-year delay, examining the complaints lodged by Ramazan Djalaldinov, a resident of the Sharoi District of Chechnya, about his prosecutions after his video appeal to Vladimir Putin about the problems of the village of Kenkhi, the Committee against Torture (CaT) has informed.

Today, Aram Simonyan, whose resignation was demanded by student activists, has voluntarily left the post of Rector of the Yerevan State University (YeSU). As explained by the press secretary of the university, Mr Simonyan does not want to darken the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the YeSU with the struggle around his candidacy.

Reports about mining of the Platov Rostov Airport turned out to be false, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported. Flights are not delayed; the staff works in normal mode, the airport has informed.

An investigator convinced the court to extend for a month the arrests of four young men from Buynaksk, accused of having links with the militants. The detainees retracted their confessions obtained under torture, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reported.

The "Georgian Manganese" Company called on miners on strike in the city of Chiatura to return to their work and accused them of disrupting agreements. Negotiations give no results, and the strike continues, the spokesperson of the trade union reports today.

Stanislav Zimovets, a resident of the city of Volzhsky, sentenced for using violence against a policeman during a protest action, has been on the hunger strike since May 14. He demands to release political prisoners, his advocate reports today.

The positions of the Azerbaijani army in the conflict zone were shelled for 21 times during the last 24 hours; two border villages came under fire, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

A protest action was held in front of the Russian Embassy in Baku. Its participants demanded to punish the law enforcers, who used of violence against the Azerbaijani journalist, Fuad Abbasov, detained in Moscow.

Alexander Kozlov and Alexander Kolesnikov, residents of the Volgograd settlement of "Zarya", said that they had been kept against their will at livestock farms in Kalmykia.

Applications on illegal actions during the blocking of courthouses in Armenia have been received from two judges and three advocates, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has informed.

Alizamin Salaev, an activist of the Salyan regional organization of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was released after his third administrative arrest over the last six months. He said that during his second arrest, law enforcers tortured him, knocking out a tooth and damaging his ribs.

At the gathering on May 21, villagers of Tsentaroi (Khosi-Yurt) themselves demanded to rename the village in honour of Akhmat Kadyrov, said Ramzan Kadyrov, who had announced that the founder of the village was not a Chechen.

Law enforcers checked information about a bomb planted in a mosque building in the centre of Nalchik; the threat turned out to be false, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported.

The Dagestani Prosecutor's Office has refused to check the complaint of Vazir Bazanaev, a resident of the Dagestani village of Chinar, who had stated that law enforcers persecuted him because of the so-called "prophylactic registration", the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has stated today. Human rights activists intend to seek a reaction from the Russian General Prosecutor's Office GPO).

The decision to start on May 23 an audit of the activities and finances of the "Mashr" was taken on the instructions of the authorities of Ingushetia, said Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights NGO.

The Nalchik City Court has sentenced Murat Kalmykov to 2 years and 8 months in prison for links with Syrian militants, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has informed today.

On May 21, the indictment was presented to Yana Antonova, the coordinator of "The Open Russia"* in the Krasnodar Territory, within the criminal case on participation in an organization that is undesirable in Russia.

The Supreme Court (SC) of South Ossetia has upheld the refusal of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to register seven nominees for MPs; the claims of six other candidates have arrived at the SC. The voter turnout will be low, one of the candidates has suggested.

The ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone was violated for 22 times during the last 24 hours; two border villages came under fire, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed today.