News

During the week of May 22-28, 2017, two persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Maria Lasitskene (Kuchina), a track and field athlete from Kabardino-Balkaria, took part in the third stage of the prestigious series of the track-and-field events "Diamond League" in the American city of Eugene. She took the bar installed at height of 2.03 meters.

Start of Muslims' Ramadan fasting in the Caucasus; emergencies caused by flooding of about 2000 houses in the Stavropol Territory, Adygea, and the Krasnodar Territory; arrest of deputy chair of opposition party in Azerbaijan; session of NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Tbilisi; detention of Kuban's Vice Governor on suspicion of abuse of powers and fraud, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of May 22-28, 2017, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The awarding ceremony of the humanitarian Aurora Prize-2017 was held in Yerevan. Doctor Tom Catena, a surgeon of the Mother of Mercy Hospital, located in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, and a missionary of the Catholic Church, was awarded the Prize on behalf of all survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Parliament of Chechnya, has claimed his non-involvement in the persecution of members of the LGBT community.

In the Baku suburb of Novkhany, on the Day of the Republic, opposition organizations held rallies at the monument to Mamed Emin Rasulzade, one of the founders of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR).

Dagestani truck drivers draw up "route sheets" for one-time trips. They are not in a hurry to install on-board equipment, since they still hope that their demands for the abolition of the "Platon" system will be heard. This was explained by the truck drivers.

Activist Ilkin Rustamzade, who is serving his sentence, has been granted the "Republican of the Year Award", awarded by the civil movement "D18" on the occasion of the Republic Day celebrated in Azerbaijan on May 28.

A necropolis found in the area of Gegeli in the Shemakha District has been named the Damirchinsky necropolis in honour of the village in which territory it was discovered.

The capital of Dagestan hosted an anticorruption rally, which participants criticized the activities of the republican authorities and local officials and reported problems of immigrants and kidnappings. Four persons were detained.

The documentary film "Tightness", which tells about the Jewish family from Nalchik, won the prize of the International Federation of Film Press. The film was presented in the second by importance contest programme "A Special Look" of the Cannes Film Festival.

Four participants of the anti-corruption rally were taken to the Sovietsky ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala, Larissa Bachieva, one of the organizers of the rally, has reported.

Activist Abdulla Gabibulaev was detained prior to the beginning of an anticorruption rally, and Zagalav Somoev at the end of the rally, eyewitnesses report.

On May 26, the Voroshilov District Court of Volgograd granted the claim about the inaction of officials from the Education and Science Committee of the Volgograd Region and obliged them to develop regulations for implementation of adapted educational programmes.

In Grozny, a pensioner of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) was shot in his own house by his stepson, a fighter of the special unit of the National Guard of Russia (known as "Natsgvardia"). This was reported by acquaintances of the killed man.

Since May 26, the number of residential buildings flooded in the Stavropol Territory has increased by 1415, and 2077 people were evacuated from the flooded area, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) reports.

The Sabail District Court of Baku has pronounced the pre-trial restriction measure in the form of an arrest for three months against Gezyal Bairamly, the deputy chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) accused of smuggling. Gezyal Bairamly has rejected the accusation and claimed being prosecuted because of her opposition political activities.

On May 25, the Shirvan Court of Appeal of Azerbaijan did not cancel the verdict under which journalist Afghan Sadygov was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment. The defence has announced the intention to file a cassation appeal.

In Khimki in the Moscow Region, employees of the "Mosgaz" service dug a ditch around a camp of truck drivers on protest against the "Platon" system. Truck drivers from Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and the Rostov Region were among participants of the protest action, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The police have drawn up an administrative protocol against student Timofei Martynenko, an activist of the Alexei Navalny's office, in connection with his participation in the action on March 26.