News

Some 195,000 Muslim believers took part in celebrating the Eid al-Adha in Moscow and Moscow Region – 130,000 and 65,000, accordingly. In Moscow, most of them have visited today the Cathedral Mosque in Prospekt Mira, where they were addressed with a welcoming speech of Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, the Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), activists declared the end of protest actions against the increase of public transport fares after the government promised to subsidize, starting next year, the fares for students and socially disadvantaged population.

The Armenian government has allocated 1.5 billion drams, or about 3.7 million US dollars to build flats for residents of Gyumri – victims of the 1988 earthquake, said Narek Sarkisyan, the Minister of Urban Development. The housing waiting list in Gyumri still has about 450 persons out of the initial 3240.

Agents of the regional FSB department have detained Ramil Rizvanov, the head of the Neftekumsk Inter-District Division of the Investigating Department for the Stavropol Territory of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). He is suspected of taking an especially large bribe.

Today, the advocates of the rights defender Leyla Yunus have issued a joint statement asking Azerbaijani authorities to change her freedom restraint measure to home arrest, or to place her into the prison hospital.

In Chechnya, prices for sacrificial animals have increased significantly on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. This was noted by Chechen residents questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The Ministry of Transport of the Chechen Republic has concluded a contract for purchasing five special low-floor buses for transportation of wheelchair users. Officials expect that the new vehicles are to make the urban environment more accessible to persons with disabilities. However, residents of the Chechen capital believe that until present, the republic has hardly created any facilities for persons with disabilities, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondents report.

In Yerevan, advocates spoke at the trial in the case against participants of the "Millions Mask March". The defenders argued for the innocence of the activists in the incriminated articles of the Penal Code and requested the court to acquit the defendants.

The administration of the Baku SIZO No. 1 (pre-trial prison) has accused rights defender Leyla Yunus of arranging too high volume on the TV set and given an admonition to her. The arrested rights defender reports on one more provocation and complains about continuing pressure from her cellmate.

Today, the Tbilisi City Court has sentenced two activists of the NGO "Free Zone" Parnavaz Chkadua, detained after the attack on the office of the NGO, and David Gogokhiya, detained in the place, where journalist Zaza Davitaya was beaten up, to administrative fines of four and six thousand laris, respectively.

Today, residents of the settlement of Vremenny, Untsukul District of Dagestan, where a large-scale special operation is underway, said that power agents forbid them to leave houses; and the settlement was a lack of food.

Djabrail Nabiev, a resident of Khasavyurt, was kidnapped by a group of unidentified persons. According to eyewitnesses, the kidnappers were armed and masked.

Today, Kurban Kurbanov, the Head of the Administration of the Derbent District of Dagestan, who is suspected of abuse of power, was placed under home arrest for two months. Thus, the Sovietskiy District Court of Makhachkala has satisfied the defence's motion to apply a more lenient freedom restriction measure to Kurbanov, said Aslan Shirinov, his advocate.

The march of refugees from Poti to Tbilisi continues for the fourth day. Today, there are three marchers, who are on their way to Khashuri and plan to arrive in the capital of Georgia on October 6 at the latest, said Daredjan Tskhvitariya, the deputy chair of the "Women's Organizations" of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party.

Sergey Khlivnoy, a resident of Murmansk, who was freed from slavery in Dagestan, has safely reached Moscow and left it for home together with his brother. He has filed a complaint to the police about what had happened to him in Dagestan. The man said that in Dagestan, he was kept in chains and often subjected to beatings.

On October 7, journalist will mark the 8th anniversary from the date of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. To pay tribute to her memory, the international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) has announced an international campaign, and the "Caucasian Knot" has already joined it.

The organization "Soldiers' Mothers of Saint Petersburg" has received a response from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) to its request. According to the Russian MoD, the information on the involvement of Russian troops in the hostilities in Ukraine is not true.

Two natives of Ingushetia detained after the riots in Moscow near the mosque in Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street are suspected of using violence against law enforcers. The court has arrested them for two months. Other 33 people were subjected to administrative arrest.

On October 2, in Strasbourg, a group of emigrants from Azerbaijan held a protest action when Elmar Mamedyarov, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, was delivering his speech at the Plenary Session Hall of the PACE.

Supporters and opponents of the NGO "Free Zone" held rallies at the Tbilisi office of the NGO. The number of people who attended the rally organized by supporters of the NGO was twice as much as the number of those who attended the opponents' rally.