News

On March 1, a kennel for stray dogs organized by the Mayor's Office was opened in the village of Semender of the Kirov District of Makhachkala, and the opening ceremony was attended by members of animal rights organizations of Makhachkala. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent who came to the opening ceremony.

The pilot release of the programme "Stop Haram" (Haram means banned Islam behaviour), posted today on the "Alif-TV" Channel on the YouTube, criticizes drinking alcohol and smoking in public places. The description of the video entitled "Stop Haram! I’m ready to die for Islam!" states that Islam Ismailov, the author of the project, "tries to convey to townspeople that drinking alcohol and smoking in public places is not just illegal, but also immoral."

Nver Babadjanyan, a soldier of the Defence Army, has died as a result of the gunfire delivered from the Azerbaijani side, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has reported.

A commemoration march of those killed during street riots on March 1-2, 2008, in Yerevan, was held today in Yerevan by supporters of the "Elk" electoral bloc.

The Kremlin is getting ready for 2018 presidential election; therefore, they have taken the course of pseudo-liberalization and stopped prosecuting some activists, experts said in their comments on the liberation from house arrest of Makhmud Velitov, the Imam of the Moscow "Yardyam" Mosque.

On February 28, the city of Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) hosted a picket with a demand to release Kemal Atnasirov, a resident of Novaya Djeguta. According to the organizers, the picket was over 60 strong

With the support of Russia, Azerbaijan hampers the negotiation process. This opinion was voiced by political analyst Ruben Megrabyan, an expert of the Centre for Political and International Studies, in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Without any explanations, a court marshal did not execute the court's decision to evict the Dyakov family with many children from an apartment, earlier provided to them from the manoeuvrable fund. In their turn, members of public organizations and residents of Sochi demanded from the Prosecutor's Office to protect the right of the Dyakov family members to housing.

Dagestani leader Ramazan Abdulatipov has addressed residents of the republic with a request to "stop killing defenceless animals" and "stop escalating the situation." Meanwhile, during three days, the petition for resignation of the Mayor of Makhachkala and the leader of Dagestan, who, according to the petition's initiators, support the shooting of dogs in Dagestan, collected more than 3500 signatures.

Since the start of hostilities in Syria, 99 criminal cases were instituted against residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). This was reported by Igor Romashkin, the head of the KBR’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The mass arrests of government critics, civil and religious activists, taking place after the appointment of Mekhriban Alieva as Vice-President, "are intended to intimidate the society and prevent protests against the above decision." This opinion was voiced by Oktai Gyulalyev, the head of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without political prisoners".

About 20 participants of the march in support of Arthur Sargsyan have expressed their desire to join the round-the-clock protest action with a demand to release the activist, who is accused of helping the "Sasna Tsrer" detachment.

Today, in the Gumista camping area, a rally of veterans of the 1992-1993 Patriotic War II of the Abkhaz people took place; the rally was about 200 strong. The participants have called on Alexander Ankvab to refuse to participate in the parliamentary elections.

In the Dagestani village of Karamakhi, a local resident, who opened automatic fire at law enforcers, was shot dead, the Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported.

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".