News

Closure of mosques cannot be treated as a method to combat terrorism, and a conflict should be solved before its transition to the stage threatening bloodshed. This was announced by participants of a roundtable held in Makhachkala.

In Yerevan, the police released two activists of the National Salvation Front "New Armenia". Administrative proceedings were instituted against them.

At present, the progress of the trial in the criminal case against Nadezhda Savchenko is important for acceleration of political negotiations on her release, the defendant's advocates believe. According to them, the appearance of Vladislav Surkov's assistant in the Nadezhda Savchenko's case says that her fate will be determined by politicians and not by the City Court of Donetsk.

Today, about 30 people took part in an action at the building of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Armenia in support of the arrested Gevorg Safaryan, a supporter of the Front of National Salvation "New Armenia". During the action, eggs were thrown at the GPO building.

The movement of "National Democratic Platform" was created by members of the group of activists "You won't deceive us!" protesting against constitutional reforms in Armenia.

The authorities and Muftiat of Dagestan should deal with the Salafi community in the form of a dialogue, and not through pressure and actions that could be perceived as a provocation, said the participants of the roundtable in Makhachkala dedicated to the closure of the mosque "Severnaya" (Northern) in Khasavyurt.

The Salafi mosque "Severnaya" (Northern) in Khasavyurt was reopened after negotiations of the authorities with protesting townspeople; the parishioners administered their namaz (prayer) there.

During the week from January 25 to January 31, 2016, at least two people suffered from the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; one of them died and another one 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, the Donetsk City Court of the Rostov Region continued hearing the case of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who has complained of infringement on the nationality grounds.

For 9 years, during which Chechnya is led by Ramzan Kadyrov, the republic has received 539 billion roubles from the federal budget and got into the top three most subsidized regions of Russia. This is reported by the study prepared by the "RBC" and released today. Besides, Chechnya is distinguished by general unrest, paramilitary nature, and, meanwhile, the smallest number of divorces and the largest proportion of children in the country.

On his Instagram page, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has published a video, in which Mikhail Kasyanov, the leader of the "PARNAS" Party, appears under a filter simulating a rifle sight. Commentators have treated the video as a threat to the opposition politician.

Decision of the Russian Supreme Court concerning appeals filed by defendants sentenced in the case of the attack on Nalchik; start of the investigation into the conflict in South Ossetia at the International Court in The Hague; adoption by PACE of one of two resolutions prepared on the Karabakh conflict, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 25-31, 2016, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

According to eyewitnesses, law enforcer have closed the mosque "Severnaya" (Northern) and welded its front door. The police check the documents permitting the construction of the mosque, reports a law enforcer from Khasavyurt.

In Azerbaijan, after nearly a year of imprisonment, 55-year-old Irina Zakharchenko and 38-year-old Valida Djebrailova, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community, were released in the courtroom. The court found them guilty on the charge of distributing banned religious books and sentenced them to punishment in the form of a fine, but at once exempted them from paying it.

In the city of Khasavyurt, a lot of law enforcers gathered near the Salafi mosque. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by eyewitnesses of the situation.

In Volgograd, seven participants of the picket in defence of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution stood against combat actions in Syria and Ukraine, for release of political prisoners and fair elections. Besides, they also urged the authorities to abide by the Constitution of Russia.

In the Zagatala District in north-western part of Azerbaijan, two residents of the village of Yukhary Tala were subjected to administrative arrest. According to members of the opposition, the villagers were brought to administrative responsibility in connection with the protest action, planned in the town of Zagatala. Officials from the district police station deny detentions of citizens in connection with the protest action.

A criminal case on propaganda of Nazi symbols has been instituted against Alexander Tokarev, an editor of the "Astrakhanskaya Pravda", after the newspaper published an article about the prohibition of the Communist Party in Ukraine.

Advocate Timur Lakunov, who represents the interests of Eduard Mironov, sentenced to life imprisonment, has called the decision of the Court of Appeal a biased and announced the intention to challenge it at cassation instance.

The reconstruction of Kabardinskaya Street in Nalchik is on for 1.5 years, leaving entrepreneurs without incomes, said the owners of local shops and travel agencies. Entrepreneurs demand from the authorities to speed up the reconstruction, the city administration has promised to complete the works by May 1.