News

Detention of activists of "Constituent Parliament" in Armenia on charges of plotting mass disorders; new unofficial information and re-arrest of three defendants in Boris Nemtsov's murder case; termination of protest hunger strike of Dagestani Shushiya villagers, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of April 6-12, 2015, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the Mass of April 12, Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, called the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 the first genocide of the 20th century. In response, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Vatican City for consultations.

M. Kuramagomedov, a resident of the Tsuntin District of Dagestan, has been found guilty for supplying members of an illegal armed formation (IAF) with foodstuffs and arranging winter refuge bases for them. According to the court's decision, he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment.

In Stavropol, activist Mikhail Abramyan, who was arrested for seven days, was hospitalized after sentencing. While leaving the courtroom, he lost consciousness.

During the week of April 6-12, 2015, at least 2 persons fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, one person was killed, and another 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.

The Investigating Committee of Russia carries out the investigation into the criminal case against Shamil Musaev, an advocate who represented the interests of family members of Vakhid Omaev shot dead in 2001 by fighters of the federal troops. The advocate is accused of a large-scale fraud committed in collecting from the federal budget the compensation for non-pecuniary damage in favour of the Omaev family.

In Tbilisi, a woman was killed in the explosion in a residential building. Three other persons were injured.

In Azerbaijan, Seth Kugel, a journalist of The New York Times, has been included in the "persona non grata" list for his trip to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Colleagues of Mikhail Abramyan, an activist of the "Communists of Russia" Party, detained in Stavropol and arrested for seven days, have called his detention a provocation.

Alexander Valov, an editor-in-chief of the "BlogSochi", has claimed he doesn’t agree with the decision of the FSB Border Guard Service, which imposed on him a fine for violation of the border regime. According to Alexander Valov, he does not consider himself guilty.

According to local residents, today, from 5 to 8 p.m. local time, law enforcers made a number of checks in the Leninsky District of Grozny.

On April 5-11, Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime on the troops contact line for 900 times, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

The defence of Kislovodsk Imam Kurman-Ali Baichorov has repeatedly challenged the decision of the Predgorny District Court, which recognized legitimate the actions of Pominov, the Chief of the IVS (detention facility) of the Predgorny District.

The Russian authorities attempt to make a hero of General Alexei Yermolov. This was stated by participants of the presentation of the book "A. P. Yermolov. Caucasian Letters. 1816-1860." The cruelty of General Yermolov's actions does not allow residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) to change attitude towards him, the human rights defenders believe.

During one day, the Azerbaijan's positions on the contact line were fired 50 times. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan.

In Chechnya, employees of public institutions and students complained about being forced to take part in the action on the large-scale planting of Grozny devoted to the holiday of May 9.

The defence of Talekh Bagirzade, an Azerbaijani theologian, has filed a motion to consider the complaint about his transfer to a closed prison and to conduct the re-trial; however, the Court of Appeal has dismissed the defence motion.

According to experts, residents of Northern Caucasus do not question the right of relatives to commit "honour killings". In the case against Sultan Daurbekov, a resident of Chechnya, his advocate tries to refer to the traditions, and a witness quotes the statements of Ramzan Kadyrov.

Advocates of Azerbaijani citizens Dilkham Askerov and Shakhbaz Guliev have challenged the verdict of guilty against their clients at the Supreme Court (SC) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NCR).

In Ingushetia, a local resident has been detained on suspicion of killing a policeman in the Cossack village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya.