News

The Sabunchi District Court of Baku has held a preliminary hearing on the case of the theologian Talekh Bagirzade, accused of illegal possession of drugs. The defence asked to change Bagirzade's freedom restriction measure from detention to home arrest. However, the court denied the petition.

In the Abkhaz village of Adzyubzha the bodies of a missing businessman Sergey Klemantovich and his girlfriend Oksana Skarednova have been found, said the republic's General Prosecutor's Office. The Russian diplomat Dmitry Vishernev, who was killed in September in Sukhumi, had been engaged in searching Klemantovich.

More than 98% of all the terrorist crimes committed in Russia are committed in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD). Meanwhile, most of such crimes are committed in Dagestan. This was reported by Yevgeny Ilyin, First Deputy Chief of the National Antiterrorist Committee.

The Nasimi District Court of Baku has sentenced Dayanat Babaev, an activist of the "Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan", to two years of conditional imprisonment. He was found guilty of hooliganism. Dayanat Babaev treats the Court's verdict as unfair and politically motivated.

In Vladikavkaz, tram drivers, who have not been paid since July, fail to come to their working places. This was reported by the press office of the city administration.

The Moscow City Court once again has postponed the consideration of the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya in connection with the extension of quarantine at the pre-trial prison, where Sergey Khadjikurbanov, one of the defendants, is kept.

Victory of Ilham Aliev at presidential election in Azerbaijan and protests of the opposition; collecting signatures by Georgian NGOs for boycott of 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi; decisions of ECtHR on complaints of residents of Chechnya and Ingushetia in the amount of more than one million euros, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of October 7-13, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of October 7-13, 2013, at least 8 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 6 persons were killed, and 2 persons were wounded. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In seven cities of Georgia, students held a peaceful protest action "Stop Annexation". Participants of the protest action accused Russia of occupying parts of Georgia.

Since October 12, in Makhachkala, policemen carry out mass detention of employees of the network of Islamic cafes "Azbar" and Islamic restaurant "Room". This was stated by staff members of cafes and human rights defenders.

Residents the city of Derbent that was affected by the flooding in October 2012 claim that they continue enduring hardships and do not get any help from the authorities.

During the picket held near the summer residence of the Russian President in Sochi, no provisions of law were violated. This was stated by Lydia Lepsveridze, a 75-year-old resident of the resort city, who was detained during the protest action.

The National Council of Democratic Forces intends to seek cancelation of the results of the presidential election held on October 9 and appointment of new presidential election in Azerbaijan. This was stated by leaders of political parties and movements at the rally held on October 12.

In the garden non-profit partnership "Poselkovoe", located in the Tsentralny District of Sochi, court marshals are demolishing two multi-storey apartment blocks, following the decision of the court, which has satisfied the claim of the city administration on demolition of unauthorized constructions. About 50 people, pensioners, disabled people and children among them, are deprived of their only housing, say the tenants.

The Sochi police have detained Lydia Lepsveridze, 75, during her solo picket near the summer residence of the President of the Russian Federation "Bocharov Ruchei". According to policemen, the woman has violated Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation – "Order of organizing or holding meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches or pickets."

On Saturday in Khasavyurt, a member of the local "Khasavyurt" terrorist grouping was killed in a shootout, said the spokesman of the Chief Department of Russia's MIA for the NCFD.

As reported by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the today's rally in Baku of those who disagree with the outcome of the recent presidential election was attended by 20,000 people. According to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, there were some seven or eight thousand participants.

The demand of the Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan to treat an article published in the local weekly "Chernovik" as an extremist material is an attempt to exert pressure on the independent weekly, said Magdi Kamalov, the editor-in-chief.

In the city of Cherkessk, employees of the Centre to Combat Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) have returned the copies of the Koran, translated by Elmir Kuliev, confiscated on October 2, back to Islamic stores, said Anzor Abrekov, the owner of the shop "An-Nur".

The interregional festival of national cultures "Caucasus Is Our Common Home" that was held on October 9-11 in Vladikavkaz will become traditional and will be held every second year, said Luiza Kabulova, the head of the division of the North-Ossetian Centre of Traditional Culture and Ethnic Tourism "Farn".