News

In Tbilisi, starting March 25, the amnestied political prisoners are holding daily protests demanding rehabilitation. Former political prisoners promise to stop the protest if their demands are met, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

As reported by the press service of the Chief Department for Kabardino-Balkaria of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), investigators found a package with an explosive device at the place of the attack on policemen in Nalchik.

In South Ossetia, the new wording of the law "On non-governmental organizations (NGOs)", approved on March 31 by the Government of the Republic, introduces the notion of "an NGO, which functions as a foreign agent" in relation to the organizations, which receive funding from abroad.

As reported by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", on March 27, Khasan Edilkhanov, a native of Chechnya, who arrived from Thailand, was detained by law enforcers in the arrival area of the Sheremetievo Airport on suspicion of involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs).

Ara Zakaryan, the defender of Tigran Petrosyan, has stated that the actions of his client who was detained during the action on November 5, 2013, in Yerevan, constituted no crime elements under the article of "Hooliganism".

Mukhammadrasul-Hadji Saaduev, the Imam of the Central Juma-Mosque of Makhachkala, called, in his Fridays' prayer on March 28, on his parishioners to boycott the movie "Noah" that was recently released into the global circulation.

Four Georgian sailors who stay onboard a ship in the Turkish port of Iskenderun have addressed for help to Georgian authorities. According to their version, the owner of the ship fails to pay their salaries; and they have problems with foodstuffs.

The Magas District Court of Ingushetia has sentenced Aslan Dobriev, the former head of the Nazran District, to four years in prison on charges of a fraud with payments to Chernobyl accident liquidators, the spokesman of the FSB Department for Ingushetia said today.

According to Inessa Petrosyan, an advocate of Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, her client and 13 other participants of the "Million Mask March", detained on November 5, 2013, saw a change of the charge – from rendering resistance to authorities into hooliganism.

The press service of the administration of the city of Anapa reports that as a result of illegal construction of a cafe on the beach area of the Utrish Reserve dozens of relict trees listed in the Red Book were damaged. The Prosecutor's Office has begun searching for the customer.

As reported by activists from the courtroom, on April 2, the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar plans to announce the verdict to Professor Mikhail Savva, the Director of Grant Programmes of the Southern Regional Resource Centre.

In Chechnya, relatives of Alvi Abdurakhmanov report his disappearance after detention by law enforcers. Earlier the jury acquitted him on charges of robbery and attack on power officials. However, the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov stated the illegality of the acquittal.

In Georgia, politicians, including the oppositionists, declare their readiness to support the proposal announced by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to constitutionally secure the definition of a family as a union of a man and a woman. Members of the State Commission of Georgia have already prepared an appropriate statement to change the Constitution Article on equality of spouses in marriage.

Four residents of Bashkiria, who are, according to prosecutors, members of the "Imarat Kavkaz", have been sentenced to three years of imprisonment on charges of illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunitions and explosives. This was reported on March 31 by the local Prosecutor's Office.

Geneva Debates on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia; skirmishes in Karabakh conflict zone and meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Hague; announcement of court verdict in resonant case on scuffle near "Harsnaqar" Restaurant, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 24-30, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of March 24-30, 2014, at least 14 persons suffered in the armed conflict in North Caucasus. Of them, 11 persons were killed and 3 wounded. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Investigation in the case on the murder of Dakhir Djankezov unreasonably rejects all defence motions. This was reported by Evgeny Kuzyur, an advocate from the Stavropol Regional Advocates' Chamber. Evgeny Kuzyur represents the interests of defendant Ruslan Rakhaev, the former deputy head of the Cherkessk GOVD (City Interior Division).

The Azerbaijani opposition appreciates the official Baku's position to support the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity. This was stated by Ali Kerimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), who on March 29 spoke at the session of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF).

Georgia should seek to Eurasian integration. However, the conflict around Abkhazia and South Ossetia significantly hinders that tendency. This was stated by Georgian experts at the videoconference "Eurasian Choice of 2014".

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a defendant in the case on the terror act committed during the marathon in Boston, acted under pressure of his elder brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. This was stated by advocates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.