News

The Sovietsky Court of Makhachkala has placed Magomed Murtazaliev, Director General of the OJSC "Mahachkalavodokanal" (water supply and sewage authority), behind bars for two months, having accused him of rendering services, which fail to meet safety requirements, said a source from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

The Moscow City Property Department has explained the closing of the Russian representative office of the Amnesty International (AI) in Moscow by the fact that the office was inaccurate in paying the due rental fee. However, rights defenders deny this and are ready to go to court, if necessary.

The court has granted the claims of the Prosecutor's Office (PO) of Chechnya demanding to block 39 Internet websites, dedicated to the ways of committing suicide and calls for committing it.

On October 31, residents, desperate and indignant with city problems, came out to a rally in Makhachkala; nobody directed their actions, said the experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Today, about 50 workers of the "Nairit" factory have blocked Bagratunyants Street near the plant. The protestors demand to pay them wages for four months. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Grachya Tadevosyan, the leader of the trade union of the "Nairit" factory.

According to residents of Makhachkala, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", there are sufficient amount of medicines in hospitals, and physicians render all necessary medical care to the victims of poisoning. However, the city residents believe the reaction of the authorities on the incident is insufficient.

In its "2016 World Press Freedom Index", the International Organization to Protect Journalists "Reporters without Borders" (RWB) has put Russia on the 148th position out of 180 places. Meanwhile, the RWB calls Chechnya a "black hole for news."

In the evening of November 2, relatives of three activists, arrested after the clash with the police on July 20 inKhorenatsi Street, have held a protest action in front of the presidential residence. They demanded to clear their family members from charges, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Narek Sargsyan, accused of involvement in mass riots of July 20 inKhorenatsi Street, has declared a hunger strike. He demands to change his pre-trial freedom restriction measure.

In Dagestan, Magomed Murtazaliev, Director General of the OJSC "Mahachkalavodokanal", has been detained on suspicion of providing services that violate consumers' safety.

Sixteen alleged members of a criminal grouping have been detained in Germany. Most of them are natives of Chechnya seeking asylum in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The court has allowed Ogtai Gyulyalyev, the head of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan Without Political Prisoners", to leave the country, but today officials refused to give him a passport, saying that the ban on his travels abroad is still in force, Ogtai said himself.

According to Gezyal Bairamly, the deputy chair of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), she got the death threats voiced by unidentified people on the phone and posted on the social networks.

Today, staff members of the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) have failed to get to their office in Moscow, since it appeared to be sealed off. According to Alexander Artemiev, a staff member of the AI, locks at the office are changed, and the electricity is cut off.

The number of signatures under the petition, posted on October 29 on the website "Change.org", proves that the main topic voiced in it - the mass poisoning with drinking water in Makhachkala - is the most important one for residents of Dagestan. During four days, the petition raised more than 26,000 signatures, while other petitions relating to the situation in Dagestan gain much less number of signatures.

Zhalaudi Geriev, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in Chechnya, has been nominated in the category "Journalism" for the "Freedom of Expression Awards 2017" of the British human rights organization "Index on Censorship".

During the past day, 102 people, including 63 children, have been brought to hospitals of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk with signs of acute intestinal infection. This has been reported today by the Dagestani Ministry for Public Health.

29-year-old Islam Kadyrov is appointed the Vice Prime Minister of the Chechen government for cooperation with the security agencies, the law enforcement authorities, and municipalities.

The budget process should take into account all aspects and not only the interests of some regions. This was stated by Dmitry Peskov, Spokesman for the Russian President, when he commented on the dissatisfaction voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov about the fact that the Russian Ministry of Finance had proposed to cut the region's budget for 2017. According to the Independent Institute for Social Policy, with regard to allocation of transfers, Chechnya is in a better position than most Russian regions.

At the trial in the case against Varvara Karaulova, a student of the Moscow State University (MSU), the court has read out her correspondence in social networks. In the posts, one of the key themes was related to construction of the "Islamic State" (IS), recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by court. The defendant has claimed she did not understand the meaning of her words, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.