News

In Rostov-on-Don, on April 28, the North-Caucasian District Military Court questioned, in the case of Said Amirov and Yusup Djaparov, the witnesses of the prosecution – Magomed Abdulgalimov, the former Assistant Public Prosecutor of the city of Kizlyar, and his driver Murad Aliev. Abdulgalimov said that he was tortured in SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Dagestan.

In Baku, at the fire place in the settlement of Bulbul, Surakhani District, the body of Sadig Soltanov, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Mizan Teresi", was found. The journalist may have been killed, said the City Prosecutor's Office.

On April 28, the Moscow City Court (MCC) completed the judicial inquiry into the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper. Rustam Makhmudov, accused of committing the murder declared his innocence; however, Anna's daughter did not believe him.

On Monday evening, power forces detained at departure by air from Baku Leila Yunus, the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif Yunus, a conflictologist. This was reported by Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" News Agency, who saw the spouses off.

The administration of the Grand Hotel in Baku, where an event of the human rights campaign "Art for Democracy" was scheduled for April 29, has notified about impossibility of renting the place.

As reported by the Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), four persons killed in the special operation held in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt have been identified; two of them were active members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), including the "Aukh" grouping.

Farida Tuganova, an advocate of Azamat Akhkubekov, a figurant in the Nalchik attack case, said that her client continues his hunger strike announced on April 8 in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). According to her story, Akhkubekov is kept in the dungeon for a long time and lost 10 kilos of his body weight during his protest action.

Relatives of Arif Mamaliev, a resident of Derbent, who was thought to be kidnapped, report that they received information that he was killed on April 26 during a special operation. Arif's body could be planted into the place of the special operation, his wife Nagiyat Mamalieva asserts.

The Moscow City Court has questioned Rustam Makhmudov, accused of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta". The defendant denied any involvement in shadowing the journalist and any guilty of her murder.

The members of an illegal grouping, who were liquidated in the Stepanov District of the Stavropol Territory, transported an improvised explosive device (IED) in the trunk of their car, said a source from the Investigating Department (ID) for the Territory of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). Also, automatic firearms were found in the car.

Supporters of ex-Mayor of Makhachkala Said Amirov made efforts to force Sagid Murtazaliev, the head of the Russian Pension Fund for Dagestan, to refuse from testifying. This is the topic of Murtazaliev's comment, released by Albina Sunkulieva, the press secretary of the Pension Fund.

The earthquake that hit the Vedeno District of Chechnya in the morning on April 27 caused no human victims or destructions, a source from the Republic's Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Its epicentre was in a forested mountainous terrain, thus, serious consequences were avoided, the expert explained.

Events in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia on Remembrance Day of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire; Day of Circassian Flag in Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria; start of trying Ruslan Kutaev, who criticized the head of Chechnya, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of April 21-27, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week from April 21 to April 27, 2014, the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus affected at least 13 people, of whom ten were killed and three wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Amina Asalieva, his wife, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that Nizam Asaliev was selling furniture; he was last seen at the furniture warehouse on April 26.

Zakir Magomedkerimov, one of the two residents of Derbent, kidnapped on April 26, has been released; the whereabouts of Arif Mamaliev is still unknown, his relatives report.

The discussion of the "Circassian issue" should be transferred into the scientific and historical context and depoliticized, said Barazbi Karamurzov, the Rector of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU), at an international conference held in Nalchik.

On April 26, in Makhachkala, a rally was held at the memorial to the participants of liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), dedicated to the 28th anniversary of the disaster. The problem of providing housing facilities to liquidators is being successfully addressed. However, they need more sanatorium vouchers, said the participants of the rally.

Five suspected militants were killed in the city of Derbent during a special operation. One of them was preliminarily identified previously as a member of the "Yuzhnaya" grouping, said a MIA source.

On April 20-26, 600 cases of ceasefire violation were registered at the contact line of Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, said the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army (NKDA), adding that the Air Forces of Azerbaijan made training flights along the perimeter of the contact line.