News

In Sochi, about 50 people took part in the all-Russian "Antimaidan" campaign. They came up with posters reading: "It's time to drive fifth column away!", "Let's give powers to head of state!" and "Let's support Putin's policy!", the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Today, Gadjimurad Omarov, the head of the regional branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party, was beaten up in Makhachkala.

Today, a man, suspected of committing a grave crime, was found hanged in the temporary detention facility (known as IVS) of the MIA of the Rostov Region.

Today, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has set the official exchange rate of 1.05 manats for 1 US dollar, against 0.78 manats for 1 US dollar on February 20. The CBA's decision will tell on the real incomes of the population, Azerbaijani experts assert.

The court session on the lawsuit lodged by the former opposition activist Elman Turkoglu (Gasanov) against the journalist Khadija Ismayilova was held behind closed doors in the Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison). The claimant demanded to find Khadija guilty of libel.

The hunger strike of 42 life prisoners continues in Gldani Prison in Georgia. Five of them are under continuous medical monitoring.

Power agents conducted mass detentions of young people in central Grozny at the background of the visit to the city of Sergey Melikov, the Russian presidential envoy to the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), townspeople have reported. In his turn, the spokesman of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said that the actions were not massive.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has reconsidered the verdict to Said Mazhaev, who was convicted for participation in the war in Syria, and reduced his prison term from two years down to eight months, which he has already served in the SIZO (pre-trial prison).

On February 18 and 19, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), Pierre Andrieu (France) and James Warlick (USA), accompanied by Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the Chairman of the OSCE, visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

An exhibition of photos taken at rallies, held in Tbilisi in support of the Ukrainian Euromaidan in 2014, was opened on February 20 in the presidential library named after Mikhail Saakashvili. Activists of the NGO "Free Generation" held a protest action at the library; and some unidentified persons threw packs of paint at the windows of the building.

The health condition of the 10 villagers of Shushiya, who hold a hunger strike in support of their demand to allocate land, causes no doctor's concern, Minazhat Gadjieva, a nurse of the Shushiya feldsher-midwife station, told the "Caucasian Knot".

The international human rights organizations "Amnesty International" (AI) and "Human Rights Watch" (HRW) have expressed their readiness to help Professor Mikhail Savva, the Director of Grant Programmes of the Southern Regional Resource Centre (SRRC), who was forced to leave Russia for fear of further prosecution.

The opposition political trio no longer exists in Armenia, Raffi Ovannisyan, the head of the "Heritage" Party, has stated today at a rally in Yerevan.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) has changed the freedom restraint measure of Elgiz Sadygly, a brother of the political emigrant Turad Sadygly, and a son of the ex-members of the "Musavat" Party and editor of the portal "Free Speech" Alovsat Sadygly, by putting him under home arrest.

Two policemen were hospitalized because of bodily injuries received during the suppression of a mass brawl in Rostov-on-Don. At the present time, all the fighters have been identified; some of them are minors.

Lyudmila Bogatenkova, the Chair of the Stavropol Committee of Soldiers' Mothers named "Prikumye Mothers", and her advocates have not begun to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case opened against the woman. Investigators accuse the advocates of protracting the preliminary investigation.

A motor convoy of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), consisting of 30 trucks, has brought more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to Lugansk and Donetsk.

The need for Azerbaijan's cooperation with the United States in the sphere of democracy and human rights was emphasized by Azeri politicians and civil society experts.

Alexander Ivanov, the former vice-governor of the Krasnodar Territory, accused of abuse of office, was left in custody under the decision of the Krasnodar Territorial Court.

Professor Mikhail Savva, sentenced to conditional imprisonment on charges of a fraud, has confirmed his departure from Russia. According to his version, he took the decision after being questioned by the police on the case of the director of the Krasnodar centre "Levados".