News

Underground hidings with the weapons intended to conduct large-scale warfare, a video archive of torture and lists of people, planned for detention on trumped-up charges, were found in Georgia, Nino Giorgobiani, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), has reported today. According to the MIA, its former officials had to do with the hides.

Member of Azerbaijani Institute of Freedom and Safety of Reporters (IFSR) Mehman Guseinov was detained on June 17, in the airport of Baku. The reporter was not let to fly from the country to Norway for participation in the ceremony of awarding him with prestigious international Gerd Bucerius award “Free Press of Eastern Europe-2013”. This decision was motivated by a criminal case initiated against Guseinov. The journalist himself considers the ban of leaving country groundless.

The Krasnodar Territorial Court has left the Sochi journalist Nikolai Yarst, suspected of drug possession, under home arrest. The OTR journalist is under threat of 3-10 years in prison.

On June 15, the Chistyakov Grove of Krasnodar hosted a picket, sanctioned by the Mayoralty "We demand a law that protects not kills!" The picketers protested against cruel treatment of animals as well as against cruelty and inhumane methods of catching stray animals. The action brought together about 30 civilian activists, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The ban on citizens' secret shadowing in Georgia should be reflected in the legislation, the members of the initiative group believe. The Georgian parliament has set up a working group to study these proposals and prepare the appropriate bills.

The defence of the arrested Professor Mikhail Savva has appealed against the decision of the court made on June 5 to extend his custody, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Mussa Polonkoev, 21, resident of Ingushetia, has returned to peaceful life after two years with militants, said Akhmed Kotiev, the Secretary of the Security Council of Ingushetia and a deputy chairman of the local Adaptation Commission.

The "Alliance of Patriots" has addressed the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia with an application for a referendum on early parliamentary elections, said Joseph Manjavidze, one of the leaders of the organization.

On June, 14, layer Sapiyat Magomedova in Dagestan appealed to the court against the actions of investigative bodies who discontinued the criminal case on the fact of her being beaten up in Khasavyurt Department of Interior Affairs. The lawyer states that she was beaten by two policemen and there is enough evidence in the case for bringing a charge against them.

The Government of Georgia suggested to the Parliament to raise the sum of compensation to the families of servicemen who perished in Afghanistan up to $60,000. The “Caucasian Knot” correspondent received this news from the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia.

Three co-authors of the monograph and head of interregional non-governmental organization “Committee Against Torture” Igor Kalyapinwere summoned to Dzerzhinsky district court of Nizhegorodsky region on the case of acknowledgment the book “International Tribunal for Chechnya” an extremist material.

The two-months arrest of Mikail Kadyev and Rizvan Omarov accused of illegal purchasing and storage of arms and explosives will be appealed against to the Court of Appeal of Georgia, the defendants’ attorney Irma Inasaridze declared.

Official Sukhumi and Tskhinvali say that the UN General Assembly Resolution on the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia passed on June 13 is unilateral and politically engaged.

The official statement of the US Congress on cooperation with Georgia in the defence sphere has called the recent arrests of former officials in Georgia politically motivated.

The Lezgin National Federal Cultural Autonomy, the public organization "Sadval" and the "Khrakh-Uba" Society have initiated a nationwide action to be held on June 29 in Moscow, St Petersburg, Makhachkala, Derbent and other Russian cities under the motto "Derbent is Russia's southern outpost!" The reason for the protest was the renaming of the central street of Derbent into Geidar Aliev Street.

On June 15, the police disrupted actions of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) in Gazakh and Agstafa districts, activists of the oppositional organization reported. Officials of the district police departments deny these statements and decline comment.

Relatives of resident of Dagestan Seifudin Babaev who was found dead in his exploded car insist that he was killed and report pressure from law enforcement officials.

The detained resident of Makhachkala Sabina Sheikhmuradova, in whose house a "suicide belt" was found during a search, on June 14 was arrested by the court for a period of two months, Gadjimurad Izmailov, a lawyer from the Bar "Kavkaz" told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On June 13, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the arrest of the head of the civil movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl) Ilgar Mamedov, and urged the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure "a prompt, fair, transparent and independent investigation of the charges against him."

The improvised explosive device (IED), detected on June 14 on rails in Makhachkala, was neutralized, the Dagestani operational headquarters reports.