News

Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier, sentenced to life imprisonment for killing seven Avetisyan family members in Gyumri, will serve his sentence in his homeland, reports the Armenian Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Asim Ragimov and Almir Akhmedov, Azerbaijani ex-citizens, who had received Russian citizenship and now live in Dagestan, have complained about the demands of Azerbaijani military commissariats to take their military service in the country. According to the young men, they are wanted in Azerbaijan, and, therefore, cannot visit their parents.

The house, partially destroyed by explosion, is under round-the-clock guard. Today, tenants were allowed to enter their apartments and take documents, money and valuables. According to investigators, the domestic gas explosion occurred due to damage to the gas pipeline at an attempt to illegally cut into the water supply.

Two residents of Chechnya, who were persecuted because of their sexual orientation, have received Lithuanian visas, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister has reported.

The case against five persons, who made weapon hideouts in the Nazran District of Ingushetia, has been sent to the court, said the Prosecutor's Office.

After the protest of the Nationalities' Ministry of Ingushetia, the editorial board of the "Petersburgskaya Gazeta" has apologized for publishing an interview with Sergey Plotnikov, Director of the "News Pool" Media Holding, entitled "Ingushes should thank Stalin for deportation and erect monuments to him", in which the deportation of Ingushes and Chechens was called "soft punishment."

The Supreme Court (SC) of Adygea has stopped the cases about the absence of the label of a "foreign agent" on press releases of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and cancelled the fines earlier imposed on the organization, said Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator.

By the level of sexual minorities' rights, Azerbaijan takes the last, 49th place in the annual ranking of the ILGA-Europe – the European branch of the International Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Intersexuals. Russia is ranked 48th; Armenia – 47th.

Chairpersons of the Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan always influenced the political decisions in the republic. This opinion was voiced by advocates Rasul Kadiev and Rinat Gamidov. Magomed Magomedov believes that Ruslan Mirzaev has failed to keep the position of the chairperson of the Dagestani SC because of high competition and pressure of lobbyists.

Today, in Baku, the court has pronounced the decision on the forced delivery of Leyla and Arif Yunus, who stay abroad. According to an advocate, for the next step, they will be put on the international wanted list. Experts doubt that the Yunus spouses will be extradited to the Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies.

The activists have marked the International Day Against Homophobia by gathering in front of the State Chancellery building in Tbilisi. They spoke in protection of the rights of people with non-conventional sexual orientation. Meanwhile, in the Georgian capital, counter-actions dedicated to the Day of Solidarity and Holiness of Family were launched.

Today, on the International Day Against Homophobia, the Anti-Discrimination Centre "Memorial", the Centre for Civil Liberties and the FIDH, are launching a campaign of messages of solidarity with LGBT people of Chechnya and Donbas.

Rashid Gadjiyasulov, a Dagestani alpinist, being a member of a group from Russia and Ukraine, has made an ascent to the highest mountain of the world.

Tatiana Moskalkova, High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, has reported that the appeal of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" with the indication of the specific names and surnames of the gays persecuted in Chechnya had been sent to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). In Grozny, officials called the campaign to protect gays in Chechnya an attempt to exert pressure on Ramzan Kadyrov.

The meeting of Mikhail Fedotov, the chairman of the Human Rights Council (HRC) under the President of Russia, with Ramzan Kadyrov has become the first visit of the HRC members to Chechnya after the republic was excluded from a series of travelling sessions in Northern Caucasus in June 2016.

The decision of the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia to liquidate the "All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress" is of political nature, and it can seriously damage the Russian-Azerbaijani relations. This was stated by the Azerbaijani MPs who demanded to audit the Russian cultural centres in the country. The Russian SC has made an unreasonable decision.

The "Apricot Country" Party has turned to the Central Election Commission (CEC) with a demand to invalidate the elections to the Board of Elders.

Law enforcers have detained an entrepreneur and two other persons, suspected of involvement in the collapse of the apartment house in Volgograd.

For almost 6.5 last years, Volgograd saw five explosions of domestic gas, including four in apartment houses. Since January 2011, these explosions killed 10 persons and injured other 51.

On May 15, a request was submitted to the Investigating Department for the Republic of Ingushetia of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to invite for questioning Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Evkurov in the case of an attack on journalists and human rights defenders at the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia in March 2016. This was reported by Andrei Sabinin, a lawyer of the international human rights group "Agora".