News

At the trial in the case against former Mayor Said Amirov, Shikhakhmed Omarov, the former head of the Sovietskiy District of Makhachkala, has described the circumstances of the seizure of documents from the administration of the capital of Dagestan in 2011.

The first European Games are opened in Azerbaijan in an atmosphere of the government repressions, which are unprecedented in the post-Soviet era in the country. This was announced by the "Human Rights Watch" (HRW). The Azerbaijan's authorities deny the allegations and claim the absence of political prisoners in the country.

The defence of Arslan Khairullin has filed a complaint to the court about the investigators' inaction concerning the complaint filed about beating committed by law enforcers.

Today, the capital of Azerbaijan holds the opening ceremony of the first European Games. The "Athletes' village" raised flags of Azerbaijan and the Olympic committees of 50 countries. Baku holds the opening ceremony of the European Games against the background of traffic jams and crowds of tourists.

Correspondents of the British newspaper "The Guardian" are refused in the accreditations to the European Games in Baku. The newspaper associates the reasons for the refusal with the publication of materials on the facts of the suppression of freedom in the country.

The Soviet District Court of Makhachkala has extended until July 15 the detention in custody of Ibadullo Nabotov, a staff member of a Dagestani mosque, accused of illegal possession of weapons. An advocate of Ibadullo Nabotov has reported that the criminal case is to be brought to the court soon.

Khamzat Chumakov, the Imam of the mosque of Nasyr-Kort, and his supporters have claimed that they speak only for peaceful means of the resolution of the conflict, which has resulted in a shooting incident at the mosque. They have assured that they will restrain from aggression even in case if the mosque is temporary closed.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has released an online game depicting prisoners taking part in prison competitions. The game has been timed to the opening of the European Games in Azerbaijan.

The Lenin District Court of Makhachkala has pronounced the decision to leave one of the leaders of the public organization "League of the Just" under house arrest until June 22.

The Supreme Court of Dagestan has upheld the resolution on the arrest of Kurban Askandarov, the Deputy Imam of one of the mosques in Makhachkala. This was reported by his advocate. No formal charges have been filed against Kurban Askandarov yet.

The statements made with regard to Elena Milashina, a journalist of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", published in the article "US uses pawns" at the information agency "Grozny-Inform", are the evidence of a direct threat, which is not to be ignored. This opinion has been expressed by natives of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Relatives have identified the men killed in a special operation carried out in the vicinity of the village of Atazhukino as Rustam Kodzokov and Asker Khatkov. This was reported by a source in the law enforcement bodies.

Today, the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime has been introduced in the Suleiman-Stalsky District of Dagestan by the decision of the operational headquarters. The CTO regime covers an area of about 667,000 square kilometres.

The editorial office of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" has appealed to the Russian presidential administration and the law enforcement bodies with a request to treat the article "US uses pawns" published by the information agency "Grozny-Inform" as a threat to the safety of Elena Milashina, a special correspondent of the "Novaya Gazeta".

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged to use the European Games to be launched in Baku on June 12 to draw attention to human rights violations in Azerbaijan through advantages of social networks on the Internet. Members of the pro-government local NGOs treat the criticism of Azerbaijan on the eve of the European Games as biased.

The closure of the OSCE office in Baku is the Azerbaijan's internal affair. However, the fact gives rise to concern in Armenia. This opinion has been expressed by Armenian experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the village of Oganavan in Armenia, residents of the villages of Oganavan, Karbi, and Ush of the Aragatsotn Region held a protest action against the increase in electricity tariffs. According to the protesters, the growth of electricity tariffs will increase the cost of food products, goods, and services.

In Sochi, cheated real estate investors have occupied apartments at the unfinished residential complex "Jamaica" deprived of electricity and water supply, sewerage system, and heating units. At the upper floors, the people placed posters with the demands to the local and federal authorities to solve the protestors' problems.

Murad Abdulmuslimov, a resident of Makhachkala, whose relatives claimed his possible kidnapping, was detained on suspicion of illegal possession of drugs. At present, he is being kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison). This has been reported by his mother. The woman believes that her son's rights were violated during his detention.

In Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, more than 60 photographs of endangered monuments of Western Armenia are demonstrated at the mobile photo exhibition "Genocide after Genocide". The exhibition is being held at the initiative of the administration of the State Historical Regional Museum of Nagorno-Karabakh and is dedicated the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.