News

In the evening on April 29, employees of law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan conducted a search of the flat of Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), who had been detained in Baku airport with her husband and taken to the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) for questioning.

The persons killed in an armed clash with policemen in the Stepnovsk District (with the administrative centre in the village of Stepnoe) of the Stavropol Territory have been identified as residents of Makhachkala, as reported by investigating authorities.

Sochi has held an inspection decade of the work of police offices and stations. Rights defenders and activists of public organizations inspected 14 police stations located in all four districts of Sochi, Adler and Krasnaya Polyana, including those at railway stations.

In the context of May holidays, since Thursday, the Chechen law enforcement bodies will switchover to the round-the-clock service, a law enforcement source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The increased security regime will last until May 11.

Russia has asked Georgia to extradite natives of Northern Caucasus, including Mikhail Kadiev and Yusup Lakaev, accused of resonance killings, said the Ombudsman of Georgia Ucha Nanuashvili. He sent a memo to the Prosecutor's Office asking not to do it.

A protest against the antidiscrimination legislation was held on April 29 in Kutaisi. It happened after the statement of the Patriarchate of Georgia against adoption of the bill.

Bureau No. 2 of the Chief Department of Medico-Social Examination of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) has appointed disability Category III to Muradin Alshunov, a resident of the aul Erkin-Yurt of the Nogai District, who became disabled after being beaten up in September 2012.

The Abkhazian oppositionists have demanded from the republic's president to dismiss the cabinet of ministers and form the government of people's trust. The Coordinating Council (CC) of oppositional political parties and public organizations offers to retain the right to nominate a candidate for the prime minister, who will then form the government alone.

Baris Bairamkulov, a resident of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) has been sentenced to three years in colony on charges of financing illegal armed formations (IAFs) in the amount of 1000 roubles. The defendant refused to plead guilty.

The Krasnodar Territorial Court (KTC) has dismissed the complaint lodged by the defence of the Sochi builder Mardiros Demerchyan, accused of slandering policemen, against holding the handwriting examination without regard of defendant's questions.

One of the casualties of the armed clash with policemen in the Stepanov District of the Stavropol Territory was identified as Nizam Asaliev, a resident of Dagestan, said a source from the Lenin ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala. Earlier, Asaliev's relatives stated that he disappeared on April 26.

Azerbaijani law enforcers conducted a search in the office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), which is headed by rights defender Leila Yunus, who was detained on the eve and questioned at the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO). During the search, they confiscated computers, documents, conference materials and books by Leila Yunus' husband.

Leila Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), left the building of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Azerbaijan at about 3:00 p.m. Moscow time after being questioned for nine hours at the Investigating Department for Grave Crimes.

A special operation to search for members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) is underway near the village of Ullubiyaul, Karabudakhkent District of Dagestan, said a law enforcement source. According to his version, an abandoned militants' camp with weapons and foodstuffs was found in a forest near the village.

The checks of the preparation process for the Winter Olympic Games in Russia revealed numerous violations of the law; 55 criminal cases were opened, says the report of Yury Chaika, the Russia's Public Prosecutor General, which has arrived in the Federation Council.

In Rostov-on-Don, on April 28, the North-Caucasian District Military Court questioned, in the case of Said Amirov and Yusup Djaparov, the witnesses of the prosecution – Magomed Abdulgalimov, the former Assistant Public Prosecutor of the city of Kizlyar, and his driver Murad Aliev. Abdulgalimov said that he was tortured in SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Dagestan.

In Baku, at the fire place in the settlement of Bulbul, Surakhani District, the body of Sadig Soltanov, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Mizan Teresi", was found. The journalist may have been killed, said the City Prosecutor's Office.

On April 28, the Moscow City Court (MCC) completed the judicial inquiry into the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper. Rustam Makhmudov, accused of committing the murder declared his innocence; however, Anna's daughter did not believe him.

On Monday evening, power forces detained at departure by air from Baku Leila Yunus, the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif Yunus, a conflictologist. This was reported by Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" News Agency, who saw the spouses off.