News

The referendum on the Autonomous Republic of Crimea's reunification with Russia as a subject of the federation was held without violations. This was reported by observers from the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories.

Closing ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi; rallies in support of and against the actions of the Russian authorities in Crimea; special operations in Nalchik, in which the leader of the local militants was killed, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of March 10-16, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of March 10-16, 2014, at least 5 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The police have released David Gogokhiya, an activist of the NGO "Free Zone", who was detained on March 16 in Tbilisi and brought to the police station after a clash between participants of the pro-Russian rally and participants of the rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Parents of the children, who got poisoned by chlorine vapour in the village of Nizhny Cherek, ask for a meeting with Yuri Kokov, an interim head of Kabardino-Balkaria. At the meeting, they hope to discuss the issues of assistance for further medical treatment of the victims.

All the Christian cemeteries located in the territory of Chechnya will be presented in the proper order for the upcoming celebration of the Orthodox Easter. This was reported by an official from the administration of the Chechen leader and the government.

Participants of the Council for Culture and Arts under the Volgograd Regional Duma note the need to maintain libraries in Volgograd and the lack of urban programme for their optimization.

Tofig Yagublu and Ilgar Mamedov accused in the case of Ismailly events should be released immediately. This was stated by Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director of the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI).

The promises of the authorities to stop the practice of citizens' tapping by security services and law enforcement bodies were not fulfilled, said NGO activists in Georgia. In her turn, Manana Kobakhidze, the vice-speaker of the Georgian parliament, said that they are preparing to consider the legislation to address this issue.

As reported by the lawyer Alexander Popkov, the criminal proceedings against the Sochi journalist Nikolai Yarst has been stopped on rehabilitating grounds, said.

Investigators have launched a check of Roman Shikarev, the leader of the Movement "Law and Order", under the charge of "violating one's privacy", Roman told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

A court in the city of Sochi has ordered the Mayoralty to give an apartment, away of the waiting list, to a family with small children, which became homeless eight years ago because of a fire.

The Azerbaijani Parliament has amended the legislation to increase penalties for becoming mercenaries and terrorism; the amendments are aimed to prevent the participation of citizens of Azerbaijan in international terrorist groupings and in the warfare in Syria, in particular, experts say.

The armoured "Tiger" automobiles are Russian, the military expert Alexander Goltz is confident. In his turn, Alexander Perendjiev, an expert of the Association of Military Political Analysts, believes that the photos with clearly visible license plates of the Russian MoD could be staged.

Servicemen of the engineering-sapper units of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) have started a new phase of clearing the territory of Chechnya of mines, bombs and other explosive devices, said a source from the Chechen Military Commandant. The militaries plan to clean up about 8000 hectares.

A picket in support of the Russian-speaking population of the Crimea was held on March 14 in Volgograd. A group of young people stated their support of the policy of Russian authorities in relation to the Crimea and the need for peaceful settlement of the situation in the region.

At the trial in Baku of "Nida" activists, the father of the defendant Bakhtiyar Guliev said that detectives had planted drugs and "Molotov cocktails" during a search of their house.

The Chief Investigating Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) has instituted a criminal case against citizens of Ukraine, members of the UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People's Self-Defence), who are suspected of forming an armed grouping (a criminal gang) for the purpose of attacking citizens.

Andzor Akhokhov, the organizer of the anti-Olympic action held in Nalchik, has sent an appeal to the Prosecutor of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), the head of the Investigating Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for the KBR, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the KBR, the Human Rights Centre of the KBR and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Khusen Kazhokov, the principal of the secondary school of the village of Nizhny Cherek of the Urvan District of the KBR, where in February, 76 children got poisoned, was dismissed. This was reported by the press service of the KBR's Ministry of Education and Sciences.