News

Svetlana Krivsun, a native of the town of Yeisk of the Krasnodar Territory, has become one of the defendants in the criminal case of the private jet crash that occurred at the Moscow Vnukovo Airport on October 21. She is under house arrest and interrogated as a defendant.

In Grozny, in the Press House, relatives of 60 disappeared and kidnapped citizens obtained the so-called "genetic passports". According to representatives of local NGOs, obtaining genetic passports significantly increases the chances to learn about the fate of disappeared persons.

Relatives of Ingush rights defender Maksharip Aushev have appealed to the Russian President, the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), and the leader of Ingushetia with a request to resume the investigation and send the criminal case to Ingushetia.

In Moscow, natives of Northern Caucasus hold solo pickets demanding to lift the decree issued by the Rector of the Medical University named after N. I. Pirogov. The decree bans "clothing indicating particular nationality or religion", and it is to come into force on November 1, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The next week, the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) is to appeal to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in connection with possible violations of the rights of Kislovodsk Imam Kurman-Ali Baichorov, accused of drug trafficking. This is the result of the Imam's meeting with Mikhail Fedotov, the Chairman of the HRC.

Today, in Makhachkala, eight members of NGOs from different districts of Dagestan have declared a hunger strike demanding the resignation of the Dagestani leader Ramazan Abdulatipov. Besides, the protestors also spoke against corruption.

Today, the failure of justice in the cases on journalists' murders is one of the main enemies of press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) states. According to the CPJ, 370 journalists were killed throughout the world during the period of 2004-2013. Meanwhile, according to the CPJ, no one has been held criminally liable for 333 of the above mentioned murders of journalists.

Alexander Tolmachov, a Rostov journalist and publisher, accused of extortion, has been sentenced to nine years in a high-security penal colony.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) has dismissed the appeal filed by Azerbaijani human rights defender Intigam Aliev about the extension of his arrest and refusal to replace the pre-trial restriction measure in the form of arrest by house arrest or release on bail.

The Kizilyurt District Court of Dagestan has sentenced Kasum Magomedov, found guilty of the murder of his niece, to seven years in a high-security penal colony. The defendant has pleaded guilty.

Azerbaijani Court has extended for four months the arrest of Arif Yunus, a staff member of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD). The defence treats the Court's decision groundless and intends to appeal against it.

On October 28, mothers of large families from the Volgograd Region held a picket in Moscow. The protestors demand from the authorities to fulfil social obligations of the state.

Last night, in the Staropromyslovsky District of the Chechen capital, law enforcers carried out "targeted" measures and detained young men, who were released after being beaten. This was reported by local residents.

Members of the Association of Azerbaijani students have held namaz (prayer) in front of the State Chancellery of Georgia to protest against the authorities' decision to close the mosque in the village of Mokhe of the Adigeni District.

In Dagestan, residents of the settlement of Vremenny of the Untsukul District claim that the actions of the headquarters of the counterterrorist operation (CTO) contradicts the Law "On Combating Terrorism" and violate the rights of civilians. The villagers have appealed to the leaders of the CTO headquarters with a request to let them enter the village to collect their personal belongings.

In the evening of October 28, in Makhachkala, policemen stopped a mass fight, which participants were carrying firearms. To restore order, the policemen had to use their service weapons. As a result, three persons were wounded. This was reported by the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The advocates of Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, and of other defendants in the "Million Mask March" case, have announced their intention to appeal against the conviction. On October 27, they received the full text of the verdict in their arms, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

This afternoon, more than 15 people were detained at the exit of the mosque in Kotrov Street in Makhachkala after their afternoon namaz (prayer), eyewitnesses have stated. Then, the detained parishioners of the Makhachkala Salafi mosque were taken to the police, Kurban Askandarov, the Deputy Imam of the mosque, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Dmitry Bezdelov, the former head of the Federal Agency for Improving Russia's Border (known as "Rosgranitsa"), who was on the wanted list on suspicion of embezzling the funds allocated for modernization of the border checkpoint in Adler for the 2014 Winter Olympics, was detained by police in Rome.

The Special Investigating Service (SIS) of Armenia has initiated a criminal investigation into the violence used by policemen against a blind activist Alek Enigomshyan, said the press-service of the SIS; the case is now under inquiry.