News

Sexual minorities have denied the statement made by Anatoly Pakhomov, Mayor of Sochi, who declared the absence of gays in the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. One of the gay clubs is situated not far from the house, where Anatoly Pakhomov lives. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by regular visitors of the gay clubs.

On Sunday, on the 113th day of the Olympic Torch Relay, the torch has arrived in Dagestan. The length of the stage was 6.7 kilometres. This was stated by Olga Gorlova, a member of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the Olympic Torch Relay.

Arrest and removal from office of Deputy Prime Minister of Dagestan Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov; elimination of consequences of freezing rain in Krasnodar Territory and Adygea, which caused electricity and heat supply outages in the regions; Olympic Torch Relay in Volgograd and Rostov Regions, Stavropol Territory and Kalmykia; actions in Georgia and Armenia in support of Ukrainian Euromaidan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 20-26, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

On January 26, Astrakhan hosted a stage of the Olympic Torch Relay. The torch was carried by 112 persons, and the event was ended with a concert and fireworks.

Three suspected members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), killed during a special operation in Dagestan's capital, have been preliminary identified. This was reported by a source from the Makhachkala law enforcement bodies.

The Chechen authorities have reduced the Olympic Torch Relay route in the republic from 34 to 16 kilometres and reduced the number of viewers, who will be involved in the festive event.

Omar Mamedov, a 19-year-old activist of the Civil Solidarity Party (CSP), a co-founder of the educational movement "Akhyn" (Flow), was arrested for three months on charges of selling drugs on a large scale in Azerbaijan. This was reported by Samir Asadli, Chairman of the CSP's executive committee.

A dismantled five-storey building collapsed onto the roadway in the centre of Baku, in Geidar Aliev Avenue. Two people were lost. The police have identified them as Djavid Adalat oglu Bairamly, born in 1992, and Asiman Salman oglu Alekperov, born in 1988.

Today, in the Untsukul District, the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov held a meeting with local residents. However, the locals who came to meet him assert only employees of the administrations and employees of budget organizations of the district were admitted to the meeting with Abdulatipov.

The information about the arrival in Sochi of Ruzanna Ibragimova, a suicide bomber, who is preparing a terror act, is not true, but the person of Ibragimova is real, said the spokesman of the Sochi regional FSB office. The city police have also stated that there are no grounds to worry about the presence of suicide bombers in Sochi.

Elmar Mamedyarov and Edward Nalbandyan, the heads of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) of Azerbaijan of Armenia, respectively, held a meeting with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Co-Chairs expressed their concern about the recent incidents at the demarcation line of armed forces on both sides of the conflict.

On January 24, the participants of the rally in Yerevan in support of the Ukrainian Euromaidan voiced against the use of violence against protesters in the cities of Ukraine and urged the law enforcers "to join the people."

Seven students of the Abkhaz State University who planned to go for training to the Czech Republic were denied visas at the consulate of this country in Moscow on the grounds that their passports had been issued by the Russia's Embassy in Abkhazia.

During 2013, only seventy illegal migrants were deported from Chechnya for violating migration laws. The local Federal Migration Service (FMS) believes that the problem of illegal migration in Chechnya has been minimized.

Hilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh), convicted to five years in prison, is exposed to physical and moral pressure from the personnel of Colony No. 17, Sabakhaddin Mamedov, Hilal's brother, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The bodies were found in the territory of the Sovietskiy District, Stavropol Territory, said a source from the district power structures. It happened at around 9:00 p.m. after checking a report about two suspicious cars.

Amid increased security measures in Northern Caucasus before the 2014 Winter Olympics, the road section Maikop-Sochi remains out of control, at least officially – by law enforcement bodies, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Olga Petrova, a resident of Makhachkala, reports about her illegal detention at the city bus station. The spokesman of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said that Olga Petrova had not been on the wanted list.

Today, the advocates of Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Dagestan, have lodged their appeal to the Moscow City Court (MCC) against the ruling on the detention of their client.

Today, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia has decided to suspend the new law on the mandatory accumulative pension system.