News

According to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", Krasnodar activist Darya Polyudova is being prosecuted in connection with the non-violent exercise of the right to freedom of expression, on the charge of committing an offense with no constituent elements of offence.

Publication of the interim report on the results of investigation into the "FlyDubai" aircraft crash in Rostov-on-Don; conviction of Dagestani Vice-Premier Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov; undermining of house of alleged attackers on Dagestani village of Djuli, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of April 18-24, 2016, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

In the Martakert District, residents of the village of Mataghis, who left their houses during the escalation of the Karabakh conflict, have started returning to their places. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Today, Yerevan has held a ceremony of awarding the first humanitarian Aurora Prize. The Aurora Prize was given to Marguerite Barankitse from the "Shalom House" and the REMA hospital in Burundi, who saved thousands of people and took care for orphans and refugees during the civil war.

Today, in Moscow, people have held a rally under the motto: "I Remember and Demand", dedicated to the memory of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Participants of the rally have demanded from Turkey to recognize and to condemn the Armenian Genocide, as well as to avoid military intervention in the affairs of other states.

Makharbi Isaev, detained in Istanbul, has arrived in Turkey by plane to eliminate former Chechen militants, reports today the Turkish newspaper "Milliyet" with reference to its sources.

Today, residents of Stepanakert have laid flowers at the memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, unlike in previous years, the city held no mourning procession. This was noted by Albert Voskanyan, a blogger of the "Caucasian Knot", who took part in the mourning event.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports that one tank with its crew was destroyed during the reflection of the attack of Armenian soldiers on the contact line.

Last night, the Azerbaijani armed forces have violated the ceasefire by shelling the combat positions on the contact line and the near-border village of Mataghis. This was reported by the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Defence (MoD).

In Yerevan, activists have started a rally in memory of victims of the Armenian Genocide. According to the organizers, after the rally, more than 5000 people who attend the event will march as a torchlight procession through the city centre.

The surveillance cameras of the Salafi mosque located in Hungarian Warriors Street in Makhachkala have fixed the intrusion of drunken policemen; and this record was handed over to the Prosecutor's Office on April 21, said a mosque source. The Office assured that if it is confirmed that the policemen were drunk, they would be punished.

In recent years, the Dagestani authorities have gained a negative image developed at the federal level, and this fact explains the resignation of Aznaur Adjiev, Minister of Press and Information, and the reorganization of the Dagestani Department for Information Policy. This opinion was voiced by the journalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Instead of Nazhud Guchigov, who became known after his marriage to a 17-year-old girl, Police Captain Iskhak Chalaev has been appointed.

Georgia has no structures, which could buy smuggled radioactive materials, said the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". Terrorist groupings from Middle East can try to get uranium, said Shota Utiashvili, the former head of the information-analytical department of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Amur Khakulov, sentenced in the case on the attack on Nalchik, has been transported to the place in the Kirov Region, where he is to serve his sentence. Because of the severe health state, he has been immediately placed to the "Medical Detention Facility No. 12" in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk.

In Sochi, the family, which faces the eviction on the street with minor children out of the house, included in the reserve housing fund of the city administration, has sued Anatoly Pakhomov, Mayor of Sochi. According to the plaintiffs, the Mayor's actions contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Activists have announced an appeal to the President of Armenia with a demand to reject any concessions on the Karabakh conflict settlement and to prevent deployment of peacemakers in the region. They also demanded resignations of several senior officials.

The Armenian police have released all the 42 persons detained during a protest in central Yerevan.

In Dagestan, law enforcers openly resort to blowing up of houses of suspected militants' relatives as a form of retaliation; however, those actions only escalate the conflict in the republic. This opinion was expressed by the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Ramazan Djalaldinov, the author of the video appeal to President of Russia about corruption in the Chechen village of Kenkhi, is a reliable source; and he has long been receiving demands from law enforcers to stop complaining, said Magdi Kamalov, the founder of the weekly newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft).