News

Activists of the network of public organization "Republic is a common cause" have expressed their concern over the fate of the Gedmishkh Waterfall, which can disappear as a result of the construction of water pipeline. On August 23, the activists organized a trip to the Zolskoe District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to investigate the situation on site.

Igor Siskevich, a resident of Sochi, has spent more than one month at a pre-trial detention facility in Ukraine. He has managed to return home after an exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) and detainees had been conducted, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. The local office of the Communist Party of Russia held a press conference in connection with the return of Igor Siskevich.

In the Bryukhovetskaya District of the Krasnodar Territory, an ambulance doctor has been fined by the court for storing in the desktop and offering for reading a book of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory reports. The information-analytical centre "SOVA" treated the court decision as religious discrimination.

Today, experts of the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia have left for Ukraine to address the issue to provide humanitarian assistance to the country, stated David Sergeenko, the Georgian Minister of Health. In particular, Georgian doctors are to help in providing medical treatment to the wounded persons in Donbas.

On August 25, the Predgorny District Court of the Stavropol Territory dismissed all the petitions, demanding to change the measure of restraint and disqualify the judge, lodged by the advocates of Kurman-Ali Baichorov, the Imam of Kislovodsk, accused of drug storage. This was reported by Alaudi Musaev, one of the advocates.

Experts are sceptical about any reforms in Abkhazia after the election of Raul Khajimba as a new President. They suggest that the "discriminatory treatment" of ethnic Georgians, who live in the Gali and Tkvarcheli Districts of Abkhazia, will continue.

As reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (known as SBU), on August 24 they detained 10 Russian paratroopers, who got to Ukraine across the border with the Rostov Region. The paratroopers were surrounded up and captured.

Anar Gasymly, the advocate of the rights defender Intigam Aliev, who is kept in SIZO (pre-trial prison), complains that the administration of the facility violates the privacy of his correspondence with his client.

In North Ossetia, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) has appealed to the public with request to help the family members of murdered Imam Rasul Gamzatov. The Imam left five children, and his wife is waiting for the birth of the sixth child; however, the family does not have own housing.

Last night, in the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, a shootout occurred. As a result, law enforcers killed two suspected militants, stated a source in the law enforcement bodies. None of the law enforcers was injured, the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs says.

In Armenia, the Yazidi National Association "Sinjar" and the Yazidi National Committee have raised 10,000 US dollars to help the Yazidis of northern Iraq, who suffered from clashes with radical groupings, the public organizations report.

According to the Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights (HRC), in the Rostov Region, nine soldiers perished in the vicinities of the military training ground. So far, no official confirmation of the information about the soldiers' deaths is available.

A delegation of public figures from Crimea has visited the North-Caucasian republics during the visit organized by the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus (RCPC) and the "Altair" Foundation. Within the period of August 15-20, the delegation visited Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan.

The Government of the United States does not recognize the presidential election in Abkhazia, since the United States consider it to be part of Georgia, said Jen Psaki, the Spokesperson for the US Department of State. The United States still consider Abkhazia as a part of Georgia and urge Russia to withdraw "its forces to pre-conflict positions" of 2008.

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has dismissed the appeal filed against arrest of Murad Adilov, an activist of the Sabirabad regional branch of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA).

On Monday, Omaraskhab Abdulkhalikov, a resident of the village of Bairamaul of the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, has been kidnapped by unidentified persons, stated Isa Abdulkhalikov, the father of the disappeared man.

The health stated of Ilgar Nasibov, a human rights defender and a journalist, who was beaten on August 21 in Nakhichevan, remains heavy; however, he is at home already. On the fifth day after the attack, police forensic experts have recorded in their expert's opinion injuries got by Ilgar Nasibov.

During the week of August 18-24, 2014, at least 11 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 8 persons were killed, and 3 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.

Election of President of Abkhazia; Russian humanitarian convoy's week-long waiting at Ukrainian customs in Rostov Region; rights defender Ilgar Nasibov beaten up in Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of August 18-24, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

On August 23, the village of Usukhchai of the Dokuzpara District of Dagestan hosted the first festival of traditional folk songs dedicated to Kukvaz Radjab. The event organizers plan to make it a tradition.