News

On April 4, Sochi hosted a meeting of public and ecological activists with the officials of the Mayoralty in charge of social and environmental development of the resort city. The latter stated that the earlier raised problems had been partially solved; however, NGO activists expressed their dissatisfaction with the pace the city the city problems are addressed at.

Moscow hosted an action of solidarity with Armenians from the Syrian city of Kesab and the people of this country in general. The participants condemned the international terrorism, accused the Turkish authorities of aiding the Syrian opposition and supported the position of Russia and Armenia in the Syrian conflict.

Yerevan hosted a rally in support of the minor son of the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party Shant Arutyunyan, who is suspected of hooliganism. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that two protesters were brought to the police station.

Members of the organization named "Adygekhem Ya Duney" hold fundraising with the aim to make "memory ribbons", dated to May 21 – the 150th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Caucasian War. For the whole Circassian community, this is a day of memory and sorrow.

The verdict announced on April 2 by the Pervomaiskiy District Court of Krasnodar to Professor Mikhail Savva, appointing three years of conditional imprisonment failed to take into account the time spent by him in custody and under home arrest – the court just missed the point, said the lawyer Marina Dubrovina, Mikhail Savva's advocate.

Today, at consideration of the appeal, the defence of the Rostov journalist Sergey Reznik, convicted for bribery, betrayal and insulting an official, has drawn the court's attention to inconsistencies in the case materials; the defendant himself has stated the fabricated evidence, said Vladislav Ryazantsev, the coordinator of the "Left-Wing Front" in the Rostov Region.

In the Untsukul District of Dagestan, unidentified masked men beat up the wife and pregnant daughter of the head of the village of Kharachi, one of local residents said today. The women are in the district hospital in the condition of moderate gravity, the chief physician of the hospital has reported.

25 Ukrainian citizens have been detained in Russia on suspicion of preparing terror acts in the territory of seven Russian Regions, including the Volgograd and Rostov Regions, the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) of Russia has announced today.

Policemen have detained a resident of the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, who abducted a girl to marry her and knocked down a policeman with his car. This was reported today by the press service of the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Soldiers wounded in an explosion in Chechnya were hospitalized to the military hospital in Grozny. Some of them are in grave condition. This was reported by law enforcement bodies of the republic.

In 2013, in Russia, the number of attacks motivated by religious hatred increased in comparison with 2012. Most of the victims were the Jehovah's Witnesses. This was reported by Olga Sibirova, a staff member of the "SOVA" Centre. Olga Sibirova has prepared the report "Problems of Implementation of Freedom of Conscience in Russia", which was presented on April 3 at the Independent Press Centre in Moscow.

In Georgia, in connection with the ongoing protest action held by amnestied political prisoners, the Ombudsman's Office has offered the Georgian Parliament to set up a commission for rehabilitation of political prisoners.

In Baku, at the trial on the "Nida" case, two defendants Uzeir Mamedli and Zaur Gurbanly have claimed groundlessness of charges against the defendants involved in the case, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In Azerbaijan, Elsever Mursalli, 20, a member of the Civil Movement "Nida" and an active user of social networks, has been sentenced to five years in prison. The young man treats the criminal case against him as politically motivated.

As reported by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), as a result of explosion of an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) in Chechnya 11 soldiers suffered; four of them later died from their wounds.

The verdict to Professor Mikhail Savva, who was sentenced to three years of conditional imprisonment for a fraud, will be surely appealed against, said his advocate Marina Dubrovina.

Activists of the "Nida" Movement, accused of organizing riots, said today in court that after the court session held on April 1, they got poisoned by tear gas injected into the paddy wagon that transported them.

The Sochi City Administration (Mayoralty) has refused to enforce court ruling to provide housing to Desdemona Djamburiya outside the waiting list. The enforcement has been suspended, since the Mayoralty has applied to the Krasnodar Territorial Court.

A baby died in the village of Fyodorovka, Enotaevka District of the Astrakhan Region, after the district doctor failed to come to the young patient, referring to being too busy, and refused to sanction an urgent hospitalization of the baby.

Till present, the issue of sending Chechen conscripts to serve in the Russian army is open, since the Chechen recruitment office has not yet received the appropriate instructions from the General Staff. Chechen local residents express different opinions in regard to the possible draft of local youth into the Armed Forces of Russia.