News

The Dagestani Imam Magomednabi Magomedov, convicted today by the North-Caucasian District Military Court, had received threats from militants, who demanded not to interfere with the departure of young people "to the forest," said Dagir Khasavov, the Imam's advocate.

A video record, showing a group of unidentified persons beating up a man, accused of drug dealing, has been broadly disseminated over the Chechen segment of the WhatsApp messenger. The residents of the republic, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", fear that power agents, inspired by Ramzan Kadyrov's statements about the need to severely punish drug dealers, may be involved in the beatings.

A package of proposals aimed to improve the legal environment for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) has been lodged to the Government of Azerbaijan by a group of 29 civil society activists. They offer to cancel the earlier adopted amendments, which toughen the control over NGOs, to simplify registration of them and the procedure of issuance and receiving of grants.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stopped an investigation against the wrestler Besik Kudukhov, a native of South Ossetia, suspected of using doping, who perished in a road accident.

The North-Caucasian District Military Court has found the Dagestani Imam Magomednabi Magomedov guilty of inciting terrorism.

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of North Ossetia has cancelled the sentence to community service pronounced against Zemfira Tsirikhova, a resident of Beslan.

In the villages of Sakhil and Lokbatan, during searches carried out in the houses of five supporters of preacher Fethullah Gülen, law enforcers discovered prohibited books. This was reported by the law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan.

Explosion in Sukhumi, treated by police as terror act attempt; the repeated parliamentary elections in Marneuli and Zugdidi Districts of Georgia; recognition of "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Zhalaudi Geriev a political prisoner, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of October 17-23, 2016, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The international organization "HALO Trust" has organized raising of 30,000 US dollars for mine clearance of the village of Myurishen of the Martakert District of Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the week of October 17-23, 2016, at least 9 persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, eight were killed, and one person was wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Today, on October 23, Sandra Roelofs, who runs for a seat in the Georgian Parliament as a majority candidate from the Zugdidi District, has announced her decision to abandon participation in the second round of the parliamentary elections.

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the day when on October 23, 2002, militants took hostage 916 people in the Dubrovka Theatre Centre and demanded to withdraw Russian troops from Chechnya. The day of October 26, 2002, is considered to be the date of the end of the rescue operation, in which 130 hostages were killed and more than 700 others were injured. In Moscow, events for the 14th anniversary of the terror act are scheduled for October 26.

Today, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime introduced in the village of Kvanada of the Tsumada District of Dagestan on October 21 has been lifted.

The human rights organization "Civil Rights Defenders" has called on the Russian authorities to immediately stop the prosecution of advocates Marina Dubrovina and Dokka Itslaev, who represented the interests of Stanislav Klykh and Nikolai Karpyuk at the trial in Grozny. Members of the "Civil Rights Defenders" believe that the prosecution of the advocates is aimed at punishing them for their activities to protect human rights.

For five days, the petition initiated by Sochi spouses Klara and Valentin Donchi-ool against the police arbitrariness gained 135 signatures. The petition was sent to the Investigating Committee of the Russian federation (ICRF).

Today, in the centre of Volgograd, activists of the organization "All-Russian Parental Resistance" have continued to collect signatures against a new law criminalizing punishment of children.

In Dagestan, a man, suspected of involvement in the murder of two persons engaged in delivery of pensions, took refuge at the school of the village of Shamilkala. This was reported by local residents. According to them, they heard shots during the detention, and then law enforcers forced the suspect out of the school territory and drove him away.

In Dagestan, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) carried out in the village of Kvanada in the Tsumada District has become the second one held in the village in 2016. Earlier, when CTO legal regime had been introduced in the village, Magomed Abdulkhalikov was killed there. Law enforcers treated him as the leader of the "Tsumada" militant grouping.

According to updated information, one of the suspects killed in the Dagestani village of Stalskoe was a member of the "Khasavyurt" militant grouping, and the second suspect was an accomplice of the militants. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has disseminated pictures of the car driven by the killed suspects and shelled by law enforcers.

Two suspects killed in a special operation in the village Kvanada of the Tsumada District were members of a local militant grouping. They went into hiding in 2014, but took refuge in one of the rural houses, report law enforcers.