News

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has commuted the sentences for human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus, a political analyst. The BCA has cancelled their sentences and replaced the actual terms of imprisonment with conditional imprisonment.

This morning, in Azerbaijan, Natiq Kerimov, one of the elders of Nardaran, has been arrested. None of human rights defenders have talked to Natiq Kerimov yet. According to the Prosecutor's Office, he is being kept at the Investigating Department.

At the contest for socially-oriented non-commercial organizations (NCOs) to receive state subsidies, 17 out of 37 NCOs registered in Chechnya and admitted to the contest became the winners. Staff members of independent NCOs have criticized the distribution of grants and treated the decisions as biased.

Residents of the Chechen village of Ras al-Ayn in Syria under siege by the "Islamic State" (IS) ask their countrymen from Northern Caucasus not to go to Syria to participate in the armed conflict on the side of the radicals.

The Ingush human rights organization "Mashr" has been included in the register of non-commercial organizations carrying out functions of "foreign agents", the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reports.

The court has pronounced against Fuad Gakhramanly, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) the pre-trial restriction measure in the form of a three-month arrest. Fuad Gakhramanly rejects all accusations. His defence intends to appeal against the court's decision.

Fuad Gakhramanly, the Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has been taken to the Investigating Department for Grave Crimes, said Ali Kerimli, the head of the PFPA.

Residents of Chechnya Khasan Sagaev and Rasul Mukaev were kidnapped by Russian power agents and got missing, while the authorities' inquiry into their disappearances was held inefficiently, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled and awarded compensation to relatives of the missing persons in the amount of 64,000 and 84,000 euros, accordingly.

Paruyr Airikyan, the leader of the "National Self-Determination" Party, has explained his break with the "New Armenia" and "No" Front by the fact that, in his opinion, the opposition is split and its certain forces cannot get consolidated.

In her complaint lodged to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), journalist Ani Gevorkyan appealed against the decision of the court in Armenia to stop the criminal case on the use of violence against her by policemen.

This morning, a convoy of passenger cars with 15 trucks from the Volgograd Region has left the parking lot at the Kashira Highway in Moscow for the town of Khimki in suburb of Moscow, where other protesters against the introduction of the system "Platon" parked their vehicles. The purpose of this trip was to support "their unfortunate colleagues," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Vladimir, a carrier from Volgograd.

The Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has stopped the criminal case initiated against the local resident, who was killed by power agents in 2011 and charged with assaulting policemen. The court refused to rehabilitate the men, as his relatives had requested.

In Astrakhan, the criminal case has been instituted against 27-year-old Maya Duisengalieva, suspected of providing financial assistance to supporters of radical Islamism. The woman has been put on the international wanted list.

On December 7, in Yerevan, supporters of the front "No!" gathered at Freedom Square. They demanded to recognize as null and void the results of the referendum on the constitutional reform. According to the organizers, the rally was attended by about 3000 people.

Journalist organizations of Armenia have demanded to find and punish persons guilty of the use of violence against members of the media during the referendum on constitutional reform. According to the preliminary data of the above organizations, at least 15 journalists suffered.

In Armenia, the referendum on constitutional reform was accompanied by pressure on observers and all types of violations. This was stated by members of observer organizations interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They have questioned the official results of the referendum.

One of the protesters has informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that drivers of 50 heavy-duty vehicles continue their protest near Khasavyurt: "Most of them went to hold protest in Moscow. There are at least 200 trucks from Dagestan there; and we continue standing and waiting here."

The pleadings at the trial of the case of the Krasnodar activist Darya Polyudova were held today at the Oktiabrskiy District Court of Krasnodar. Prosecutors demanded to sentence her to 3.5 years in a settlement-colony, Andrei Sabinin, a Polyudova's advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The defence, in its turn, has stated at the pleadings that Polyudova is tried for "expressing her thoughts", and she is not guilty of the alleged crimes.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has begun considering on the merits the appeal complaint lodged by Leyla and Arif Yunus. During the session Leyla was inside a glass cage; she looked highly exhausted and pale. Arif was sitting in the courtroom next to their advocates, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Today, the Oppositional Front "New Armenia" has held a rally in Freedom Square. Opposition activists stated that the authorities used their administrative resources during the December 6 referendum on constitutional reforms.