News

Movsar Kuntalov, the administration head of the Achkhoy-Martan village of the Chechen Republic is suspected of illegal transfer of agricultural land into the category of residential land with subsequent delivery of the land to individuals, the republic's prosecutor's office reports.

A rally under the motto "Return power to people!" held on March 10 in the village of Khuchni, Tabasaran District of Dagestan, was attended by about 200 people, who demanded to change local power and open criminal cases on embezzlement of funds of the district budget.

After their return to Baku, Gyulyaga Aslanly, the deputy head of the "Musavat" Party, Arif Gadjily, the head of the party's office, and Emil Salamoglu, a correspondent of the newspaper "Eni Musavat", who had been detained on March 10 in Makhachkala by Russian policemen, have declared the illegality of their detention.

The NATO is grouping its troops around Ukraine to support the invasion of the Ukrainian Army into the Crimea after the referendum scheduled for March 16, said Konstantin Sivkov, the vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems.

Sooner or later, the people's revolutionary movement in Azerbaijan will get organized and repeat the events in Ukraine, since the authorities behave violently with people, supporters of the Azerbaijani opposition assert. In his turn, Rasim Musabekov, an Azerbaijani MP, is sure that there are no prerequisites for a sort of Ukrainian Maidan in Baku.

In Makhachkala airport "Uytash" power agents have detained five natives of the village of Novosasitli, Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, who had spent more than two months in Egypt, said Rasul Maazov, a relative of one of the detainees. Today, he has turned to the HRC "Memorial" with an application about their detention.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has seen similarities with the armed conflict in Chechnya in the messages arriving from the Crimea about detentions and disappearances of journalists, activists, and Ukrainian militaries.

In Yerevan, on Tuesday, a rally-march was held in support of the arrested Retired Colonel Volodya Avetisyan and other political prisoners. The event was joined by supporters of Shant Arutyunyan, who was arrested along with 13 protesters on November 5, 2013.

On Tuesday, Gyulyaga Aslanly, the deputy head of the "Musavat" Party, Arif Gadjily, the head of the party's office, and Emil Salamoglu, a correspondent of the newspaper "Eni Musavat", who had been detained on March 10 in Makhachkala by Russian policemen and convoyed under police surveillance to Azerbaijan, returned to Baku.

In Armenia, relatives of the 77-year-old Mamikon Khodjoyan have allowed rights defenders to file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against Azerbaijani authorities. It is planned that the complaint will be lodged by the Armenian NGO "Against Legal Lawlessness".

Under the pretext of the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, which was introduced in the Untsukul District of Dagestan on March 8, searches were conducted by power agents in the village of Kharachi. Locals associate the introduction of the regime with the protest actions held in the area of the Irganai reservoir.

In Chechnya, Christian cemeteries are in poor condition - cattle graze in the territory of some of them, rubbish is dumped there, and fences are absent. This is reported by staff members of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The Cheryomushki District Court of Moscow has extended the measure of restraint in the form of the arrest by one month till April 9 to Alexander Sokolov, a 23-year-old resident of the Tver Region, who is suspected of hooliganism and burning of the Koran in the capital at night of January 1, 2014.

The accusation against Tigran Petrosyan, a participant of the protest action "Million Mask March" is unlawful, and the investigation team does nothing for the fourth month already and unjustly holds the protestor in custody. This was reported by Ara Zakaryan, the advocate of the arrested protestor.

On March 10, near the city administration of the Armenian town of Vardenis, a rally was held against the police actions. The rally was attended by a few dozen of people.

Sochi has greatly improved the situation with a barrier-free environment in preparation for the Paralympic Games. However, there are still public places inaccessible to people with disabilities. This was stated by people with disabilities interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Lali Antiya, the leader of the Georgian NGO "Women for Peace", has been detained by the decision of the court. This was reported by an official from the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Gyulyaga Aslanly, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani "Musavat" Party, and Arif Gadjily, the head of the organization staff, who were detained in Makhachkala, were released. This was reported by Arzu Samedbeili, the head of the Supreme Majlis of the "Musavat" Party. According to him, the activists "are being forcibly returned to Azerbaijan."

In Grozny, the exhibition of photographers from Ufa called "Material evidence. Syria" about the acts of war in the territory of Syria will last till March 17. Visitors of the exhibition say it can affect young people who sympathize with rebels and fail to understand what war really is.

Orthodox priests, who live and work in the territory of Chechnya, will be provided assistance in solving their personal problems, and they will be paid monthly salaries. This was reported by the administration of the Chechen leader.