News

On February 28, Askhab Murtazaliev, a resident of the Cossack village of Grebenskaya of the Shelkovskoy District of Chechnya, was kidnapped. Since that time, his relatives cannot reveal his whereabouts. This was reported on March 17 by Sudan Murtazalieva, the mother of the kidnapped man.

Zarema Magomedova, a resident of the Dagestani city of Izberbash, complains about the pressure put on her by local law enforcers who summon her for questioning to the police station without presenting any documents.

The filming crew of the Ukrainian TV Channel "1+1", composed of the journalist Natalka Pisnya and the cameraman Sergey Kiselyov, who were deported at night on March 13 from Abkhazia, had worked in the republic without accreditation, said today the State Security Service (SSS) of Abkhazia.

Bureaucrats of the Mayoralty of the city of Khasavyurt have refused to sanction the applied protest action referring to the absence of information about the organizer of the action in the application, said a resident of the village of Novosasitli.

Today, the Sheki Court of Grave Crimes has passed verdicts to 18 defendants in the case of riots in the city of Ismailly; the well-known oppositionists Ilgar Mamedov and Tofig Yagublu received real prison terms.

The participants in the rally held on March 15 against felling trees in the "Krasnaya Vesna" (Red Spring) Grove in Novocherkassk to clear up place for building kindergartens, have signed a petition addressed to the authorities and demanding to preserve the natural object, said one of the organizers of the rally.

This week, Chechnya resumes compensation payments to victims of political repressions suspended in 2011, and they will be completed till the end of this March. In total, the lists of beneficiaries of the compensations included more than 95,000 people.

Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), who is in a penal colony in the Tambov Region, is not allowed to be visited because of quarantine. This was reported by ecologist's relatives.

On March 14, on the Day of Circassian Language, the Circassian (Adyg) Cultural Centre presented in Tbilisi the reprinted edition of the book "Kortaneti Stories" written by Mikhail Lokhvitsky, a Soviet writer, an ethnic Circassian. In the book, the writer tells the readers about the life of one of the Georgian villages.

The referendum on the Autonomous Republic of Crimea's reunification with Russia as a subject of the federation was held without violations. This was reported by observers from the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories.

Closing ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi; rallies in support of and against the actions of the Russian authorities in Crimea; special operations in Nalchik, in which the leader of the local militants was killed, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 10-16, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of March 10-16, 2014, at least 5 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The police have released David Gogokhiya, an activist of the NGO "Free Zone", who was detained on March 16 in Tbilisi and brought to the police station after a clash between participants of the pro-Russian rally and participants of the rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Parents of the children, who got poisoned by chlorine vapour in the village of Nizhny Cherek, ask for a meeting with Yuri Kokov, an interim head of Kabardino-Balkaria. At the meeting, they hope to discuss the issues of assistance for further medical treatment of the victims.

All the Christian cemeteries located in the territory of Chechnya will be presented in the proper order for the upcoming celebration of the Orthodox Easter. This was reported by an official from the administration of the Chechen leader and the government.

Participants of the Council for Culture and Arts under the Volgograd Regional Duma note the need to maintain libraries in Volgograd and the lack of urban programme for their optimization.

Tofig Yagublu and Ilgar Mamedov accused in the case of Ismailly events should be released immediately. This was stated by Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director of the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI).

The promises of the authorities to stop the practice of citizens' tapping by security services and law enforcement bodies were not fulfilled, said NGO activists in Georgia. In her turn, Manana Kobakhidze, the vice-speaker of the Georgian parliament, said that they are preparing to consider the legislation to address this issue.

As reported by the lawyer Alexander Popkov, the criminal proceedings against the Sochi journalist Nikolai Yarst has been stopped on rehabilitating grounds, said.

Investigators have launched a check of Roman Shikarev, the leader of the Movement "Law and Order", under the charge of "violating one's privacy", Roman told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.