News

On May 8, Tbilisi hosted a roundtable discussion on "Russian-Georgian Normalization: What Will Crisis in Ukraine Bring?" It was attended by about 25 experts from Russia and Georgia; the event was organized by the Russian-Georgian Public Centre.

In Volgograd, the family of Nina Chicherova, a former concentration camp prisoner, states that the ventilation extension, built under the windows of their apartment, creates undue discomfort. According to Olga Chicherova, Nina's daughter, she was repeatedly subjected to criminal prosecution because of her hampering the construction works.

On the eve of the two-day official visit to Baku of French President Francois Hollande that starts in the evening on May 11, Azerbaijani civil society activists had urged him to raise the issues of human rights violations in his talks with the country's leadership.

An action in Yerevan to commemorate those killed in Odessa during the opposition of pro-Russian activists and supporters of the Ukrainian authorities gathered about 20 people. The event was held on May 10 near the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia. Its participants came with posters calling to stop fascism.

The Movement "Russians of Astrakhan" has held a series of pickets against Article 282 of the Russia's Criminal Code (incitement of hatred or enmity and humiliation of human dignity), the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Sergey Zaplavnov, an activist of the Volgograd regional branch of the unregistered party "The Other Russia", was detained by Ukrainian border guards, says the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). The spokesman of "The Other Russia" fears that Sergey Zaplavnov may have been tortured.

Today in Volgograd, 200 residents of the houses located in Morozov Street of the Dzerzhinsk District of the city held a protest against the absence of access roads to their houses. The rally was organized by the Volgograd public advocacy organization named "Public Independent Inspection".

Kyamalya Bananyarly, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), arrested for 30 days after taking part in a protest action, was visited by rights defenders Elchin Bekhbudov and Vugar Magerramov. They said that they intended to ask law enforcement bodies to check the messages that the woman had been tortured.

As reported by a WW II veteran Elena Chibisova, the Sochi authorities failed to congratulate the war veterans on Victory Day, and invited only local activists to the festivities. Nina Kurilo, a teacher and a prisoner of Nazi concentration camps, also had claims to local officials.

On May 10, Chechnya marked the Day of Memory and Grief of the nations of Chechnya, which was set up as the date of the official mourning for the victims of the 1944 deportation and military campaigns. Many locals believe that the mourning day for the victims of deportation was deliberately dated to the mourning for the former President Akhmat Kadyrov, who was killed on May 9, 2004.

The regions of the Southern Federal District (SFD) marked the Victory Day with celebratory processions and parades. In some of them increased security measures were taken.

On May 9, an explosion occurred in one of the households of the village of Tyaklya, the Masally District of Azerbaijan, which caused severe burns of the house owner and his minor daughter.

Since May 8, relatives of Gadjimurad Ibragimov, who is a stepbrother of one of the victims in the murder case of four Gamzatov brothers and Magomed Omarov, cannot locate him and fear that Ibragimov could be kidnapped in order to put pressure on the family. This was reported by the advocate Sapiyat Magomedova.

In Armenia, a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have accused Ivan Volynkin, the Russia's Ambassador in Yerevan, of interfering in the country's home affairs and demanded his resignation, or apology.

The US State of California has adopted a resolution in support of the efforts of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) to develop as a free and independent nation. This is the fifth US state to recognize the independence of the NKR.

In Dagestan, relatives of Felix Agaragimov, the Imam of the village of Kurkent, the Suleiman-Stalsky District, cannot find his whereabouts. The local ROVD (District Interior Division) fails to confirm the fact of his detention.

On May 8, unidentified persons blasted the monument to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War (WW II) in the village of Sogratl in Dagestan. The information about the fact was received by the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot".

Asabali Mustafaev, the advocate of Kyamalya Bananyarly, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), sentenced to administrative arrest for participating in the May 6 protest action, asserts that his client was tortured and abused in the Nasimi district police department.

Today, in Volgograd, Nadezhda Kireeva, a resident of Volgograd and a mother of many children, has been detained by policemen in Alley of Heroes. She told about that to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Nadezhda Kireeva has noted that Olga Stepanova, another mother of many children, was detained together with her.

On May 8, at least 20 followers of Salafism were brought to a police station in Khasavyurt. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by a local resident. According to the resident, who introduced himself as Arsen D., on May 7 and 8, in Khasavyurt, the police conducted raids against local followers of Salafism.