News

Today, in Baku, an event within the local human rights campaign "Arts for Democracy" was disrupted. This was reported by Rasul Djafarov, the coordinator of the campaign. According to him, viewing and discussion of the documentary film "Arts Need Democracy" failed because of cut off of electricity supply. The organizers of the event believe the incident had political background.

The advocates of the dismissed Mayor of Makhachkala Said Amirov, accused of preparing a terror act, have appealed to Yuri Chaika, the General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, asking him to assess the work of investigators. The billing of the telephone calls of the defendants proves that the investigators' conclusions about the preparation of a terror act were incorrect, the lawyer Vladimir Postanyuk is sure.

In early 2014, the websites supporting North-Caucasian militants published a map, where the territory of the "Imarat Kavkaz" extended from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and included the Krasnodar Territory. Experts believe that the map is of virtual nature only and it does not mean real extension of militants' structures beyond Northern Caucasus.

Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, who was arrested during the "Million Mask March", is still in the hospital for prisoners, where he was brought after 17 days of his hunger strike. This was reported by his wife Ruzanna Badalyan.

Buynaksk policemen warn members of the Salafi community that from February 1 and till the end of the Olympic Games in Sochi, they should not leave the town. There is no any official confirmation of the introduction of restrictions on the movement.

Residents of the village of Samur of the Magaramkent District of Dagestan demand to transfer the Samur forest to federal administration and to ban geological examinations in the surrounding areas. This was stated at the meeting of Mamed Abbasov, State Duma Deputy, with members of the Federal Lezgin National and Cultural Autonomy, hydrologists, and public figures.

Armenia has established the charitable fund "Shant and Freedom" to provide assistance to family members of political prisoners. The Foundation has been already registered by state. This was reported on January 23 at the press conference by the trustees of the Foundation.

The Armenian Sergey Nigoyan took an active part in Euromaidan actions in the capital of Ukraine and died from a gunshot wound received there, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has reported.

Today, the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov has dismissed three members of the government, including the detained Vice-Premier Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov, the press service of the government told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Three people with a grenade, drugs and explosives were detained in a hotel in Rostov-on-Don during inspections that were initiated after the terror acts committed in Volgograd, Andrei Larionov, the head of the regional department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), said today.

As reported by the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Dagestan, in 2013, they received 215 reports about kidnappings; of them, 190 referred to bride abductions with the aim of marriage.

Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev said that special services should treat Doku Umarov as a live person as long as reliable evidence of his death is presented. Meanwhile, on January 22, a new charge was presented in absentia to the leader of North-Caucasian militants leaders – of justifying of terrorism, said a source familiar with the situation.

In Karachay-Cherkessia, an exhibition, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Caucasian War, presents 39 works by Sheomir Guchepshoko, a Circassian painter.

On January 22, five people went out to hold a picket for the rights of children, which was held in front of the building of the Central Bank in Volgograd. They demanded from state bureaucrats to cut their expenses and direct the saved money to treat sick children.

Now, there are already four activists who criticized the Olympic Games in Sochi and were detained for that in Rostov-on-Don. Eduard Nikolaev, a member of the unregistered "December 5 Party", is the fourth one. On January 22, this was reported by Alyona Rudsko, the coordinator of the "Citizen Observer" Project for the Rostov Region.

The Olympic construction has caused damage to the Sochi environment and natural reserves of the region; and in the course of preparing the Games, the authorities strengthened pressure on civil society activists, said the participants of the press conference held in Moscow on January 22.

About 300 people gathered in front of the former building of the parliament in Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi to express their support to Euromaidan protesters in Kiev, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In the city of Taganrog, Rostov Region, policemen detained Ivan Sedush, a local TV reporter, and kept him for four hours. The detainee has associated it with the Olympic Torch Relay held in Rostov-on- Don; in their turn, the police argue that he was not detained, but just invited for a talk.

Today, officials of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Germany, Italy and Slovenia have reported that they had received emails with threats of terror acts against their athletes who go to the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The rules are posted on the official website of the Winter Olympics: fans are not allowed to bring any dangerous items to the sporting facilities, signal flares and big bags. Violators will be deprived of accreditation and fan passport.