News

Albert Demchenko, a member of the Russian luge (sledge) team has won the silver medal at the Games in Sochi in singles. After the races that ended on Sunday, the gold went to the German athlete Felix Loch, and the bronze – to Armin Zoegeler from Italy, the "Interfax" reports.

The Moscow-based office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has hosted a presentation of the bulletin "Three years of 'stability'"," telling about the situation in Northern Caucasus during the period from autumn 2009 to autumn 2012.

The Russian Olympic team secured its gold medal well before the end of the competition in team figure skating. Earlier, on February 8 – the first day of the team event, the Russian figure skating team came took the first place almost from the very beginning.

On Sunday, the Russian biathlete Olga Vilukhina won the silver medal in the sprint race at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Olga Graf has won a bronze medal in the 3000-meter skating race, bringing the first medal for the Russian national team at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Igor Kharchenko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who had been arrested for five days in Krasnodar, was released on Sunday.

Abubekir Murzakan, the leader of the movement "Adyge Khekuzh-Circassia" and a participant of the action against the Sochi Olympics held on February 7 in Nalchik, said that three activists detained after the action may have been beaten at OVD (Interior Division) No. 1.

The Dagestani public organization "Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights" has launched a portal "Daptar.ru" and positions it as the first online resource dedicated to problems of Dagestani women.

The adoption by the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev of amendments to the legislation on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is another repressive step against the country's civil society, says the statement of the Azerbaijani Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

The historical items presented at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games have demonstrated that the Caucasophobia and Circassiaphobia are raised to the level of real Russia's politics, said Asker Sokht, the head of the public organization "Adyge Khase" of the Krasnodar Territory.

Arthur Aidinov, who had been sentenced by the court to a two-month arrest, died in SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 2 of the city of Cherkessk under unclear circumstances. After detention, Aidinov was tortured at the police station, his relatives and advocate claim.

The international organization "Front Line Defenders" (FLD) launched its campaign in order to attract the world's attention to the problem of persecuted human rights defenders on the same day with the start of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

The "Adyg's House" opened in the Olympic Park of Sochi will demonstrate – for the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the Circassian culture, said Mukhamed Khafitse, Vice-President of the International Circassian Association (ICA).

During the Olympics, Sochi is guarded by tens of thousands of policemen recruited from many regions of Russia; however, the security measures have not yet led to queues at inspection points, said the guests of the city interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Five members of the "Buynaksk" militant grouping were killed during the today's special operation in Makhachkala, another one surrendered, said a source from the Dagestani MIA.

After the meeting with Volgograd city officials, four women, who take part in the hunger strike, needed medical help. Ambulances were called to Nadezhda Timoshenko and Tatiana Roschina after the February 7 meeting with the officials.

Last year, 35,000 tourists visited Chechnya, says the Committee on Tourism under the Republic's Government. According to the Committee, most of them come from neighbouring regions for pilgrimage to saints' tombs, and for sightseeing.

The Cherkessk City Court has ruled to arrest the policemen of the Ust-Djegutin ROVD (District Interior Division) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR), suspected of intentional infliction grave bodily harm that caused the death of a detainee Murat Borlakov, for the time of the preliminary investigation, said a source from the court.

Deputy Sochi Mayor Victor Filonov has suggested Roman Shikarev and Vladimir Kimaev, the organizers of the rally against "discrimination of Sochi townspeople based on their residence", to hold a conversation with governmental officials, the activists have reported themselves.

Igor Kharchenko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who was sentenced to five days of administrative arrest, has gone on hunger strike.