News

A 16-year-old native of Chechnya, detained on suspicion of murdering Ruslan Marzhanov, a soldier in the city of Pugachov of the Saratov Region, has confessed. This was reported by the advocate, representing interests of the mother of the victim.

Last night, a primary school teacher was shot and killed at his house located in the Tsumada District of Dagestan. This was reported by law enforcement bodies of the republic.

Four court-appointed lawyers of Johar Tsarnaev, accused of committing the terror act in the US city of Boston, ask to add one more expert to their team.

On July 15, the District Court of Baku sentenced Ulvi Gasanli, Medjid Mardjanly, and Kenan Gasymly, activists of youth organizations, to 15 days of administrative arrest. The young people were found guilty of disobeying the police. An advocate of the detainees stated that the Court made the decision without waiting for the arrival of the defender.

On July 15, Paris and Saint Petersburg held actions to pay tribute to the memory of Natalia Estemirova, and participants of the actions demanded that the Russian authorities should take immediate steps to solve the murder of the human rights activist.

The visiting meeting of residents of the temporary accommodation centre (TAC) "Promzhilbaza" with representatives of the Ombudsman's Office scheduled for July 15 in Ingushetia was disrupted. Staff members of the Ombudsman's Office did not obtain the answers to all questions directed by them to the authorities on the complaints received from the residents of the "Promzhilbaza".

A Sochi investigator has refused to initiate criminal proceedings against policemen about beating builders of an Olympic facility, said the lawyer Alexander Boichenko.

The court has ruled to arrest Umar Musaev, arrested on July 13 on suspicion of involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs), for two months. According to Selim Magomedov, Musaev's advocate and a member of the Bar "Kavkaz", the Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala has upheld the demand of investigators to put the suspect in custody.

Magomed Bilalov, a former shareholder and a former deputy chair of the Board of Directors of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Krasnaya Polyana", was accused in absentia of abuse of power in a commercial organization, said the Russia's MIA.

The investigation into the murder of an employee of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" Natalia Estemirova was not suspended; and the inquiry has been extended until August 15, the Investigating Committee of the Russian federation (ICRF) has reported today.

Murder of journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev in Dagestan; decision of Russia's Supreme Court to uphold ban on wearing hijabs in schools of Stavropol Territory; start of trial in Boston of Johar Tsarnaev, accused of committing a terror act during marathon race; start of nominating presidential candidates in Georgia; a public hearing on the reconstruction project of Volgograd embankment; end of international film festival "Golden Apricot" in Armenia, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of July 8-14, 2013, prepared by the"Caucasian Knot".

As reported by the press service of the Investigating Department for Dagestan of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the attack on the Dagestani lawyer Magomed Guchuchaliev was committed by two criminals.

The leaders of the opposition parties of the StavropolTerritory treat the campaign conducted by the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party in Stavropol in support of the prohibition of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations adopted by the State Duma as an attempt to distract the public from the real problems.

Today marks exactly four years since in 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a staff member of the Grozny Office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", was kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya.

Gusein Abdullaev, an Azerbaijani ex-MP, businessman and author of the protest song "Susma!" (Don't keep silent!), claimed being under political persecution at home and asked for political asylum in Germany. The law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijanput Gusein Abdullaev on the wanted list on suspicion of committing economic crimes.

Agents of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) should check the heads of those villages and districts, where members of the armed underground are active; such head should be dismissed, said Ramazan Abdulatipov, the acting head of Dagestan.

On July 14, inBaku, three activists of youth organizations were detained. Their detentions are connected with anti-government leaflets, distributed in public places. This was stated by one of the detainees.

The provisions on the Human Rights Council under the republic's leader should be prepared within a month. However, local experts express their doubts about the feasibility of establishing a body which, in their opinion, would be controlled by the authorities.

Abdul-Muslim Suleimanov, a native of Dagestan, is subjected to torture at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the city of Cherkessk. Investigators try to force him to confess to the crime that he had not committed. This was stated by the mother of Abdul-Muslim. A detainee's advocate has confirmed that Abdul-Muslim Suleimanov spoke about torture.

The pre-election assessment mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has released recommendations for organizing the monitoring of the presidential election in Azerbaijan to be held in the second half of October. The mission recommended that the main monitoring group deployed 8 months before the election should be complemented by about 300 additional observers.