News

The first show of the film "February" by Ruslan Magomadov about the deportation of the Chechen-Ingush people took place on February 28 in Grozny. The film screenings will be held in all major towns in Chechnya, as well as at international film festivals, said the spokesman for the Ministry of Culture of the Republic.

On February 28, a commemoration party of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", took place in Grozny, which was attended by local human rights activists, her friends and those whom she had helped.

The United Mobile Group of rights defenders has finished checking the reports about torturing Ruslan Kutaev, a resident of Chechnya and president of the "Assembly of Caucasian Nations". The human rights organization "Committee against Torture" reports that the actions of officials used against Kutaev are qualified as torture.

The case "Djabrailov at al versus Russia" has demonstrated that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has passed to the "conveyor-like consideration" complaints submitted by residents of Northern Caucasus, because of systemic problems of non-investigation of disappearances, said Furkat Tishaev, the legal director of the independent non-commercial organization "Astreya".

On Friday, the birthday of Natalia Estemirova, a commemoration party took place in the conference hall of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Participants of the pickets held in Moscow distributed leaflets of the Amnesty International in support of Evgeny Vitishko and urged the public to send appeals to Yuri Chaika, the General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, asking him to do his utmost for the immediate release of the activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch).

A delegation of Cossacks from Ukraine arrived in the pre-border areas of the Rostov Region and claimed asylum, sources report. The authorities of the Rostov Region have declared their readiness to adopt Ukrainian refugees and provide them with the necessary aid. Rostov-on-Don plans holding two rallies in support of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

In Dagestan, a Police Colonel Salikh Gadjiev, who was fired from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), is seeking reinstatement. His critical remarks against the leadership of the Dagestani MIA, which were regarded as a gross violation of discipline, caused the dismissal. Gadjiev has appealed to the Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to interfere.

During the Winter Olympics in Sochi, video services blocked about 40,000 clips posted on the Internet and containing illegal content about the 2014 Games, said the officials of the US broadcaster NBC. Also, about 5000 illegal live broadcasts from the Olympics were suppressed.

Murat Tkhagapsoev and Astemir Khagazheev, residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), whose disappearance in the city of Anapa was declared by Tkhagapsoev's wife, were arrested three times for 15 days by the court.

The lawyers and relatives of the defendants in Said Amirov's case deny that they received death threats, which had been declared by investigators and prosecutors, when they asked to extend the custody of the ex-Mayor of Makhachkala and to try the case in Rostov-on-Don.

The lawyer of the HRC "Memorial", who is representing the interests of the respondents under the lawsuit filed by the administration of the city of Karabulak on eviction of eight refugee families from the temporary accommodation centre (TAC) "Promzhilbaza", asked the claimant to provide a number of documents relating to the appointment of monetary compensation to forced migrants.

The decisions of the ECtHR on the case "Djabrailov at al versus Russia" and on other similar cases dealing with the kidnappings committed in Chechnya from 1999 to 2006, indicate the guilt of Russian authorities of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Oleg Orlov, a member of the board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

On Thursday, employees of the Centre to Combat Extremism (CCE) held a search of the apartment of Mikhail Yassin, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "ROD".

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has decided that Belgium did not violate any rights of the native of Chechnya Arbi Zarmaev on his extradition to Russia.

Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" was convoyed from Krasnodar in the Tambov Region, says the response from the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of Krasnodar, received by Vitishko's advocate Marina Dubrovina.

On Thursday, David Khakim, a Sochi civil activist, who was detained on charges of disobeying the police, was let off from the special detention facility of the Sochi OVD (Interior Division).

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has passed its decision on the case "Djabrailov et al versus Russia", by recognizing the responsibility of Russian law enforcement bodies for the kidnapping and probable death of 13 residents of Chechnya.

On February 26, the anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, Azerbaijani hackers broke about 300 Armenian websites; however, the governmental ones did not suffer, said Vache Gabrielyan, the Minister-Chief of the Government Office of Armenia.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the scene of events, the drugstore, located in Nalchik near the Central Marketplace, which was blown up, is now guarded by the police; it is closed; and all the drugs were taken away.