News

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has pronounced a decision to release from custody Mirtagi Asadov, the head of the Supreme Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Georgia, detained in Azerbaijan. International resonance contributed to the release of the religious figure, states Khalid Agaliev, an expert in the field of law.

The Kizilyurt Court has sentenced to three years of imprisonment Dagestani resident Kazim Nurmagomedov, who was arrested on the charge of aiding and abetting militants after his son had been released from the IS.

Grigol Vashadze, a Georgian presidential candidate, and Mikhail Saakashvili, the leader of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, have called on their supporters to come to a mass rally on December 2. The Republican Party warned the allies that it would not support street protest.

In the Maisky District of Kabardino-Balkaria, law enforcers killed three persons who opened fire while there was an attempt to stop their car. According to the FSB, religious extremists were killed, and another attacker was detained.

The body of Karina Spiridonova, who blew herself up in Grozny, was not given out to her relatives for burial, reported sources. The mother of Karina Spiridonova believes that her daughter was forced to commit a suicide bombing by threats to harm her children.

The "Legal Initiative" has prepared a report on women who fell victim to honour killings in the period from 2012 to 2017. The rights defenders launched a campaign in social networks #Killedbygossip about the fate of the victims in Chechnya and Dagestan.

In the Stavropol Territory, the court has scheduled for November 30 the consideration of a lawsuit of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" against investigators who refused to institute a criminal case on extrajudicial execution of 27 residents of Chechnya.

Alexander Sargsyan, a brother of the former president of Armenia, has agreed to transfer 30 million US dollars to the state budget, and Armen Avetisyan, the former head of the Customs Committee, wants to hand over his hotel worth 20 million US dollars to the state. This has been announced by Nikol Pashinyan, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers.

There have been requests to cancel the results of voting in the second round of the presidential election at five polling stations, reports the spokesperson for the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia. She has promised to consider all complaints. Among the violations committed on the voting day, Georgian NGOs mentioned threats and bribing of voters.

On November 28-29, the positions of the Azerbaijani army were shelled from the direction of "occupied villages," reported the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan. It did not report cases of violation of the ceasefire regime at the border with Armenia.

Investigators have got no real evidence base in the case on wiretapping of phone conversations of the heads of the Armenian law enforcement bodies, reports Arthur Vanetsyan, the chief of the National Security Service (NSS).

Nikol Pashinyan's opponents criticize him for losing the post of the CSTO Secretary General for Armenia, notes observer Akop Badalyan. Nikol Pashinyan is doing the same thing as the previous authorities, states Boris Navasardyan, the head of the Yerevan Press Club. The new government deserves criticism because of mistakes in foreign policy, believes political consultant Armen Badalyan.

When making a decision on the issue of the Chechen-Ingush border, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation should be guided by "reasonable terms," notes advocate Igor Trunov. He believes "it will not take more than a week or two." The decision creates a precedent for future verdicts on similar cases, notes advocate Yevgeny Chernousov.

In Georgia, after the counting of votes from 99.7% of polling stations in the presidential election, the independent candidate Salome Zurabishvili supported by the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party is in the lead. She gained 59.56% of the votes. Grigol Vashadze, a candidate of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, gained 40.44% of the votes.

Mikhail Saakashvili, the third president of Georgia, has claimed he does not recognize the outcome of the presidential election.

The release of rapper Husky, who was arrested in Krasnodar, did not solve the problem of relations between musicians and the authorities. The rapper Husky's case has turned out to be one among other cases of pressure on performers popular with young people, whose concerts are cancelled in different cities of Russia.

Among the violations registered by observers from Georgian NGOs during the second round of the presidential election there were bribing of voters and use of the administrative resource. Bidzina Ivanishvili actually recognized the victory of Salome Zurabishvili.

All activists, detained in Saint Petersburg during solo pickets held to support opponents of the agreement on the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya, have been released. Two of them are accused of rendering resistance to the police.

In Georgia, voting at the presidential election has a pronounced protest nature, and attempts of the ruling party to steal the victory of the opposition will turn into rallies of "unprecedented scale," believes political consultant Vitaly Shklyarov.

The Georgian opposition and the police expressed different opinions when assessing violations committed during the election. The "United National Movement" (UNM) Party reported that voters were bribed at polling stations all over Georgia, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) noted the calm situation during the voting.