News

The concerns of rights defenders that Evgeny Vitishko, an ecologist from Krasnodar, was placed in the dungeon in the penal colony in the Tver Region of Russian, where he serves his term, have not confirmed. As reported by activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), Evgeny's conditions have not changed.

In Azerbaijan, at the trial of "Nida" activists, today the court has finished studying the evidence and listened to the closing speech of the state prosecutor. He demanded from 6 to 8.5 years of imprisonment for the defendants. The latter announced an endless protest hunger strike.

The Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya has initiated the resumption of the criminal case dealing with the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of Askhab Soltagiraev, a resident of Chechnya, who was kidnapped by unidentified power agents in spring 2002, said the Office. Soltagiraev's relatives believe that law enforcement bodies were involved in his kidnapping.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that Timur Tangiev, who is kept in SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 of the Department for the Chechen Republic of the Russian Penitentiary Service (known as UFSIN), complains about threats and unfair treatment that he receives from law enforcers – in protest he cut his wrists, but survived.

Since March 21, activities of the public organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) are suspended in accordance with Article 42 of the Law "On Public Associations". This was reported by Bella Meretukova, the head of the Division for NGO Affairs of the Department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the Republic of Adygea.

Following the results of 2013, Russia occupied the 10th place in the ranking of countries, where high probability of impunity for murders of journalists still remained. This was reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The report prepared by the CPJ mentions the murders of journalists from Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya and the Stavropol Territory.

This morning, unidentified persons have shelled a car of Musa Islavov, a deputy of the National Assembly of Dagestan. The MP died at the place, and his driver was hospitalized in a serious condition.

On April 16, at the session of the National Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh, representatives of the factions "Democratic Party of Artsakh", "Free Homeland", and the MP group "Artsakhatun" made a statement on the events in the Syrian town of Kesab. They urged the international community to pay attention to citizens who were forced to leave their homes.

At the conference "Caucasus is our common home", the awards in the category "Young Women in Caucasus" were granted to Anait Danielyan, editor of the Internet newspaper "KarabakhOpen.info" (Nagorno-Karabakh), Megi Bibiluri, the head of the NGO "Friendship Bridge Kartlosi" (Georgia), and Irina Kishukova, Director of the Charitable Foundation "Razvitie" (Development) (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic).

Relatives of Aliskhan Gurazhev and Mustafa Barkinkhoev, residents of the village of Maiskoe of the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia, who were detained on charges of possession and transportation of drugs, were allowed to visit the detainees in the Vladikavkaz SIZO (pre-trial prison).

Anna Politkovskaya, the murdered journalist of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" saw people who were shadowing her. This was stated by Vera Politkovskaya, a daughter of the murdered journalist, at the court session held on April 16 at the Moscow City Court.

On April 16, South-Ossetian authorities have delivered to the Georgian party three Georgian citizens – journalists of the Georgian TV3 Channel, detained on April 15 near the village of Adzvi in the Gori District, said the KGB (Committee for State Security) of South Ossetia.

The Maikop Mayoralty has twice refused to sanction the rally "Stop corruption in Adygea!" applied for by the Public Movement "For the Future of Adygea", Rashid Mugu, a board member of the Movement, said today.

As reported by the Department for Kabardino-Balkaria of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, two defendants in the case on the attack on Nalchik – Azamat Akhkubekov and Azret Shavaev – are on hunger strike in the SIZO, while three other defendants, who earlier announced the same intention, later refused to join the protest.

In Azerbaijan, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) "Institute of Democratic Initiatives" (IDI) has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice. The NGO asserts that the Ministry has illegally denied its state registration.

The number of victims of the special operation held on April 15 on the outskirts of Makhachkala includes members of a terrorist grouping, involved in undermining stores in Dakhadaev Street in the capital of Dagestan committed on October 30, 2013. This was reported by the Dagestani investigating agencies.

In Taganrog, an administrative detainee has died from injuries. Prior to his death, he was kept at the police station in a cell with two other detainees. He told the policemen that the other detainees beat him. This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the Rostov Region.

According to ecologists, the Volgograd Region still fails to establish a system to treat and recycle household waste. The ecologists pay attention to the places of temporary waste disposal, which are located in the territory of the natural parks.

The Independent Association of Georgian Journalists has condemned the detention of media professionals in the area of delineation with South Ossetia. Three Georgian citizens were detained by Russian border guards in the vicinities of near-border village of Adzvi of the Gori Districton on April 15, on suspicion of violating the border of South Ossetia.

In North Ossetia, investigators do not allow advocates to visit Aliskhan Gurazhev and Mustafa Barkinkhoev, residents of the village of Maiskoe of the Prigorodny District, detained on charges of possession of drugs. This was reported by relatives of the detainees.