News

On July 24, nine people came out in central Volgograd to hold a picket in support of the oppositional leader Alexei Navalny. The picket was held at the monument to Ataman Zasekin, where people held posters: "For Navalny!", "Those guilty imprison those innocent!", "Let's destroy this feudal system!"

The consideration of the murder case of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya began on July 24 at the Moscow City Court. All five defendants pled not guilty.

Murad Shuaibov, detained in Dagestan, is suspected of killing Dagestani journalists Malik Akhmedilov and Gadjimurad Kamalov. According to his advocate, investigators are forcing his client to testify against high-ranking officials of Dagestan.

On July 24, about 20 people gathered in Rhodope Boulevard in Makhachkala to hold a picket against violations of defendants' rights. The action was organized by relatives of Magomed Piraev, an operative agent of the Kizilyurt ROVD (District Interior Division), who is accused of robbery.

According to calculations of the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources, at least 296 people suffered, in the second quarter of 2013, in the armed conflict ongoing in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 118 people were killed and at least 178 more were wounded.

In Dagestan, "honour killings" (and investigators also classified the murder of Maryam Magomedova, a resident of the village of Nechaevka, as an "honour killing") are committed not often; however, "honour killings" are not uncommon, local lawyers and experts emphasize.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, within the programme "Movement of citizens from old and dilapidated buildings", officials propose several families to enter a single apartment, and in the Chegem District, no programme of movement has been developed. This was reported by Nikolai Maslov, Chairman of the Commission on Social Policy of the Public Chamber of the Republic.

The health state of Zaur Gurbanly, an activist of the movement "Nida", is satisfactory, and he receives the necessary medical care. This was reported by a representative of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman's office.

Relatives of Rustam Khaibulaev, a resident of Buynaksk, detained on suspicion of illegal possession of weapon, claim violations committed by law enforcers in the course of the search carried out at the house.

The children of Anna Politkovskaya, the murdered journalist, refused to participate in the trial on the case of her murder, since they treated the trial as illegitimate. This was stated in the formal statement made by Ilya Politkovsky and Vera Politkovskaya.

The convicts in the case of the explosion of the "Neva-Express" Train and their relatives have filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), alleging torture, violation of rights to the defence and fair trial.

Students David Barsegyan and Rafael Avakyan, figuring as defendants on charges of espionage in Nagorno-Karabakh, have been found guilty and sentenced to 10 and 11 years in prison, respectively.

On July 23, a protest action was launched in front of the Mayoralty of Yerevan, organized by the initiative group "We won't pay 150 drams!" It was attended by about 300 people, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

As reported by Semyon Simonov, the head of the network "Migration and Law", on July 23 the reception room of the network was inspected by employees of the city prosecutor's office, tax inspectorate and the Federal Security Bureau (FSB).

The attack on Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, undertaken on January 11, 2013, will be investigated within a criminal case of attempted murder, the spokesman of the Department for Dagestan of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), said today.

On Thursday, July 25, an extraordinary session of the People's Assembly of Dagestan will be held. It is to consider the issue on appointment of new Chairman of the Republic's Government.

On July 19, the Muftiyat of Chechnya established the religious committee "Fetva", which would address issues related to Islamic law. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of the republic.

In Azerbaijan, space for the activities of the civil society is narrowed, freedom of assembly, expression and association is severely restricted, and pressure on political activists and journalists is increased. This was stated at the international conference in Baku.

In the villages of the Zugdidi and Tsalendjikh Districts (the Samegrelo Region), the damage inflicted by heavy rains exceeds one million laris (about 600,000 US dollars). This was reported by a representative of the local authorities.

The dismissal of the Dagestan's Government indicates the growing confrontation between the elites of the republic. This was stated by Enver Kisriev, the head of the Caucasus Section of the Centre for Civilization and Regional Studies of the Institute of African Studies of the RussianAcademy of Sciences (RAS).