News

On February 14, Roman Shikarev and Vladimir Kimaev, the organizers of a rally against "residence-based discrimination", held a roundtable in the Mayoralty of Sochi, at the request of the officials, instead of the rally scheduled for February 16. The parties expressed satisfaction with the format of the event and agreed to meet again in a month.

Kazbek Dateev, Musa Soblirov's advocate, said that his client would now be under recognizance not to leave instead of custody. Kazbek Dateev said in his comment that Soblirov's disease belongs to the category, which prevents keeping a person in detention; however, the lawyer refused to specify it.

The Memorial to victims of the deportation in 1944 under Stalin's order, which was built in 1992 in Grozny, is now being dismantled. The gravestones monuments, which constituted the main part of the composition, are transferred to the territory of the complex, dedicated to the memory of the fallen employees of the Chechen power structures, located in Akhmat Kadyrov Square.

Russian fans told about long queues at the ticket offices of the Olympics in Sochi at buying tickets to the events of the 2014 Games. At the same time, they praise the good organization of the Olympic Games, the work of volunteers and the creation of a barrier-free environment for invalids.

With regard to the three students from Syria, detained on February 7 in Nalchik, near the place of the action against the Olympics in Sochi, a decision was made to deport them from Russia, said one of the students. The public organization "Peryt" is preparing to appeal against the deportation.

Maxim Katz, a Deputy of the Municipal Assembly of the town of Schukino and a member of the staff of Alexei Navalny at the election of Moscow Mayor, was denied a fan's passport for the Sochi Olympics by the decision of the Organizing Committee (OC).

The advocates of Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", are gathering materials for lodging a supervisory complaint against the decision of Court of Appeal, which has upheld the decision of the Tuapse Court to replace the ecologist's conditional term by the real deprivation of freedom in a settlement-colony.

As reported by the republic's ministry of labour and social development, Adygea has allotted a total of 3.5 million roubles from the budget for acquisition of housing for rehabilitated persons and for the persons recognized as victims of political repressions.

The journalist Anna Politkovskaya systematically received threats, and her murder was linked to her professional activities, Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta", said at a session of the Moscow City Court (MCC).

A native of Chechen Sheikh-Akhmed Baisuev, who was killed in Dagestan on February 11, was known to power agents as "Amir" of the city of Gudermes, said a law enforcement source. Earlier, his family earlier was subjected to pressure from power agents, human rights defenders assert.

The Committee to Protect the Freedom of Expression, the Yerevan Press Club, the Institute of Diverse Information and the Helsinki Committee of Armenia have issued a statement condemning the actions of law enforcement officers who violate the rights of journalists and hindering their professional activities, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The Police of Armenia have opened a criminal case on hooliganism against the ANC activists who were disseminating leaflets on February 12 in Mashtots Avenue with information about the rally upcoming on March 1. Earlier, the police refuted the information about a criminal case against the activists.

Catherine Ashton, the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Policy, and Štefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, have expressed their concern about the adoption in Azerbaijan of amendments to the legislation restricting the activities of NGOs.

Relatives of the natives of Dagestan Shamsudin and Oka Magomedov, detainees on February 12, have addressed the Dagestani Regional Public Organization (DRPO) "Pravizaschita" (Advocacy) asking to help in stopping the harassment by law enforcement bodies. Their advocate said that he could not meet them. The Dagestani MIA denies the detention of the Magomedovs.

The explosion occurred on Thursday at a fuel station in the capital of Azerbaijan. One person was killed and another one wounded, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by the on duty officer of the Khatai District Police Department.

The refusal of the Krasnodar Territorial Court to satisfy the complaint lodged by Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who asked to cancel the replacement of his conditional imprisonment with a real deprivation of freedom in the case of the so-called "Governor Tkachov's summer cottage", has caused concern of the European Union (EU) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In the next three years, the support of the Sochi Olympic infrastructure will cost 7 billion US dollars, said the Bloomberg referring to two Russian officials. The costs are caused by the uncertain future of Olympic facilities.

The problem with queues for tickets formed by fans who want to get to the events of the Winter Olympics in Sochi has been resolved, said Alexandra Kosterina, the vice-president of the Organizing Committee (OC) "Sochi-2014". She promised that the operation to buy a ticket would take no more than 20 minutes.

On February 12, Magomedrasul Magomedov, a brother of the lawyer Sapiyat Magomedova was detained in Khasavyurt. According to Sapiyat, her brother is suspected of raping a local woman. She treats his detention as a provocation and associates it with the pressure on her.

The Armenian police spokesman said that no criminal case was opened against the activists of the "Armenian National Congress" (ANC), detained for distributing leaflets on February 12; their actions are studied within the framework of the preliminary investigation.