News

Chechen historians said that there is no point in re-fix the borders of Chechnya with the Stavropol Territory once again, all the more, it is impossible to conduct such experiments in Southern Russia, given the mentality of the nations living in the region.

National minorities in Azerbaijan are restricted in their right to express opinions and face difficulties in learning in their native language, while Talyshes and Lezgins are unreasonably accused of separatism, a Committee of the Council of Europe (CoE) has stated. The restrictions on the rights of national minorities are a consequence of the general restriction of democratic freedoms in Azerbaijan, Togrul Djuvarly, a political analyst, has stated.

Ovannes Galstyan, an Armenian Film Director, has demanded to resume funding the film "My Granma's Curls". He stopped his first hunger strike last December after meeting the Minister of Culture, but resumed it due to non-fulfilment of agreements.

The persons accused of plotting terror acts in Ingushetia and at the French Embassy in Moscow were denied initiating a case on the abuse of official powers by law enforcers.

Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" Movement, and Abbas Guseinov, an activist of the movement, are on a hunger strike in Gobustan Prison in protest against torture.

Aslan Balkarov, the DPS (road-and-patrol service) inspector, who was wounded in the attack committed in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) on January 25, has died in hospital on Monday, February 4, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has informed.

Amil Mamedzade, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), detained on Monday, February 4, 2019, has been sentenced to 25 days of arrest. The fate of activist Elnur Djabbarly is not yet known, said Ilham Gusein, member of the PFPA's Presidium.

Seven former militaries of the Ukrainian battalion "Donbass", detained during a special operation in December in Tbilisi, have been released on bail, said Semyon Semenchenko, an MP of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Assembly) of Ukraine.

Citizens of South Ossetia will no longer be able to cross the border with Georgia on their passports; they will have to get a special pass, the South-Ossetian KGB (Committee for State Security) has announced.

Bekkhan Yusupov reported that he had been detained because of storing rounds, and not due to suspicions of homosexuality. The man accused the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" of slander. Residents of Chechnya expressed their scepticism about the Bekkhan Yusupov's public speech.

In the Achkhoi-Martan District, the authorities have forbidden gathering wild garlic on the territories adjacent to Ingushetia until January 31, reported residents of Chechnya. The ban was introduced on January 1 because of operational activities, reported the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Azerbaijani positions in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled for 25 times within the last 24 hours, including those deployed in two border villages, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated.

A formal reason for her dismissal was a minor error in her tax declaration, while the real reason was her criticism of the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) for insufficient supply of patients with medications, she has stated.

Arrest of Karachay-Cherkessian Senator Arashukov and his father; election of Mayor in Makhachkala; report on an attack on a law enforcers' checkpoint in Chechnya; mass evacuation in Southern Russia caused by reports of mine planting; ECtHR's decision on the complaint about deportation of Georgian citizens from Russia, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 28-February 3, 2019, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Residents of the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia have held an action in Birkiani against the construction of the "Khadori-3" hydropower plant (HPP). They have refused to resettle because of the construction, even if they are offered better conditions.

Two attacks based on intolerance to non-traditional sexual orientation committed in Georgia; two suspects were detained, the police said.

A month after the murder of pensioners committed in the dwelling settlement of Ilsky, Seversky District of the Krasnodar Territory (also called Kuban by the name of the main river), investigators regard homophobia one of the priority versions. The suspected killer is detained and gives confessions.

The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has given a negative opinion on the pardoning the lifelong convict Mger Enokyan. A new petition can be filed in a year, but the prisoner is unlikely to do it, his wife has stated.

The fate of one of the five Ingush students detained in Cairo in the summer of 2018 remains unknown, said Yushaa Gazgireev, a State Duma MP. Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Ombudsperson, has decided to join the efforts aimed to clarify the reasons for the detention of young people.

In the period from January 27 to February 2, 2019, soldiers of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan fired over 1300 shots at the positions of the Defence Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), the NKR's Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported on February 2.