News

Zeinal Bagirzade, an opposition activist, "was exposed to inhuman treatment and torture in prison," his brother Yashar Bagirsoy has stated. He suggested that Zeinal had been tortured because he filed a complaint against his verdict to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan.

The search in the house of journalist Zoya Svetova, a former member of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission (POC) is carried within the investigation into the "YUKOS case", and it does not threaten the human rights defender with any procedural status. This was reported by a source familiar with the situation.

Alexander Starovoitov, a State Duma deputy, has appealed to Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika with a request to carry out a check on the information posted by users of social network "Instagram" about shooting of dogs in Makhachkala, launched after the girl's death, and announce the results of the examination with respect to the causes of the child's death.

A 25-year-old native of Chechnya with refugee status in Austria has been sentenced to imprisonment for involvement in the hostilities in Syria on the side of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), banned in Russia, the Austrian Press Agency reports.

At the forum "Sochi-2017", the NGO "Centre for the Caucasus Nature" and the regions of the south of Russia have signed agreements on cooperation for preservation of the Persian leopard, European bison, and Caspian seal.

In the near future, the Karabakh conflict zone will continue to face the confrontation with the possible involvement of new areas; however, a serious escalation is unlikely to take place. This was reported by Russian political analysts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot".

Visit Tsoroev, the leader of the regional branch of the political party "National Security of Russia" for the Republic of Ingushetia, has sent a complaint to the law enforcement authorities with a demand to bring to responsibility blogger Ilya Davydov. The blogger became known among Internet users under the nickname of Maddison in connection with a video, in which he talked about Islam, the Koran, and Muslims.

Today, the Third World Military Games in Sochi have ended in an unconditional victory of the Russian national team in an unofficial medal standing. Russian athletes have won 42 medals, including 22 gold ones.

In Yerevan, Shagen Arutyunyan has announced an endless round-the-clock strike in Freedom Square in support of Arthur Sargsyan, who is accused of helping the “Sasna Tsrer” group. The activist said about the start of daily protests in support of Sargsyan.

All the statements of Makhachkala residents, who heard gunfire and dogs’ squealing, were checked, but policemen found no facts of shooting at animals, the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has stated. The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has instructed its investigators to check the information about the mass shooting of stray dogs.

The five former officials of the Georgia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), convicted on charges of embezzlement and pardoned by the president, have sent a lawsuit to the Supreme Court (SC), their advocates have stated today.

The evacuation of the bodies of five servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army, killed in the conflict zone, was held with the participation of international mediators, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced today.

The decision of the Council of the European Union (EU) on the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens’ short trips to the EU is final and should be brought to the knowledge of border guards, Janos Forman, the head of the European Commission’s Delegation to Georgia, told the "Caucasian Knot".

The health condition of Arthur Sargsyan, arrested for helping members of the "Sasna Tsrer" group, who went on a hunger strike in jail, has deteriorated; and MPs are collecting signature to the petition for a change of his freedom restraint measure, Edmond Marukyan, a Member of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia, has stated today.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has published the names of five persons killed in an armed clash at night of February 25 and claimed that Armenia violates the agreements on removal of dead bodies from battlefields.

Residents of Makhachkala have recorded a video appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to "stop an avalanche of violence in Dagestan" and stop the shooting of dogs in the capital of Dagestan.

Voting at constitutional referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh; appointment of Azerbaijani president’s wife as his first deputy; civil forum in Moscow, which demanded direct election of head of Dagestan, – see a review of major events in the Caucasus on February 20-26, 2017, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Today, on February 27, Russian Investment Forum will start its work in Sochi. The key theme of the Forum is "New projects for growth". It is expected that the event will be attended by about 4000 people.

During the week of February 20-26, 2017, no one fell victim 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.

Today, in Rostov-on-Don, activists gathered for a rally in memory of politician Boris Nemtsov. They adopted a resolution with the demand to identify persons who ordered the murder of the politician and bring them to justice.