News

In Astrakhan, while filming a story of the deaths of Russian soldiers near the border with Ukraine, members of the Moscow BBC office were attacked by unidentified men. At present, the reporters are in Moscow, and they are in safety, the Russian BBC service reports today.

On September 17, in Moscow, in front of the building of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, a solo picket was held in support of Evgeny Vitishko, a Krasnodar ecologist, serving his sentence at the penal settlement-colony in the Tambov Region. The solo picket was held by Sophia Rusova, the Adviser to the Chairman of the "Yabloko" Party, the press service of the political organization reports.

The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has started a check of the media reports about the biased investigation into the beating of journalist Tapdyg Farkhadoglu (Guliev). Prosecutors have assigned the re-investigation to be conducted under the personal supervision of the General Prosecutor, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Participants of the discussion held on the sides of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva have condemned the impunity for the murder of the ‘Caucasian Knot’ correspendent Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev and other journalists.

In August 2014, at least 31 people fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; of whom 21 people died and 10 were wounded. These are the results of calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Volgograd, the Territorial Election Commission (TEC) rejected the demand of Natalia Latyshevskaya, a candidate from the "Rodina" (Motherland) Party, to recount votes after the elections to the Regional Duma.

In the Adzhar city of Kobuleti, Georgia, local residents hold a protest action in front of the building, where they plan to open a medrese. Some of the protesters stay there day and night.

In Azerbaijan, 76 convicts serving their life sentences in Gobustan Prison have appealed to President Ilham Aliev asking to reconsider their cases. Copies of the appeal were also sent to the country's Parliament, Ombudsman and the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners".

Today, the advocate of Sabina Abakarova, convicted in Dagestan for possessing a "suicide belt", received the verdict in written form and declared his intention to appeal against it. According to his story, the judicial investigation had shown that the belt was planted into the house of his client.

The Ukrainian refugees accommodated in the Rostov Region continue coming back home. According to regional authorities, every day over 400 of them leave the territory of the region.

Under instruction of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Armenia, the Special Inquiry Service (SIS) has launched an investigation into the attack on a female journalist of the "A1+". SIS agents try to find out whether there are grounds for criminal prosecution, a source from the SIS told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on September 16.

At the trial in Sochi of Oleg Vronsky, the former city Vice Mayor, and Anzor Pruidze, Director General of the LLC "Yugspetsstroy", the prosecution witnesses have evidenced. The defence demands from the incumbent Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov to appear at the trial, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The Prosecutor's Office has illegally refused to open a criminal case on the fact of beating Tapdyg Farkhadoglu (Guliev), a correspondent of the Turan Agency, said the lawyer Ruslan Aliev, who is representing the journalist's interests.

On September 16, a recount of votes at Polling Stations Nos. 312 and 315 of the Voroshilov Territorial Election Commission (TEC) of Volgograd changed the outcomes of the voting in favour of Gennady Murylyov, the candidate from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party. His opponent from the "Rodina" (Motherland) Party – Natalia Latyshevskaya – demanded a vote recount at other 10 polling stations.

Today, the Court of Appeal (CoA) of Armenia has dismissed an appeal complaint against the verdict to Volodya Avetisyan, a Karabakh War veteran and an active participant of protest actions, who was convicted on charges of fraud.

Fifteen prisoners of Corrective Colony No. 19, located in the town of Surovikino in the Volgograd Region, have injured themselves in protest against confiscation of prohibited items from them, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) has reported today.

In the course of the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), activists of the international human rights organization "Article 19" demanded from Russian authorities to reopen the investigation into the murder of the "Caucasian Knot" reporter Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev.

Today, the Sovietskiy District Court of Makhachkala has sentenced Sabina Abakarova, charged with illegal possession of weapons, to six months in custody, which she has already served during the investigation and trial, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports.

The rights defender Leyla Yunus is kept in Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 in intolerable conditions, said her advocate Alaif Gasanov. According to his story, Yunus is under moral and psychological pressure from her two cellmates.

Today, on the anniversary of the terror act committed in the city of Volgodonsk in 1999, mourning ceremonies were held by townspeople to commemorate the victims of the explosion. Early in the morning, Father Cornelius, the Bishop of Volgodonsk and Salsk, delivered a mourning prayer; and city residents laid flowers, the magazine named "Delovoy Kvartal" reports.