News

On June 12, investigators finalized the renewed criminal inquiry into the case of journalist Nikolai Yarst, who had been charged with illegal possession and transportation of drugs, the journalist's advocate Alexander Popkov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "On June 13, Mr Yarst and his defence will start studying the materials of the criminal case," said the advocate.

Magomedrasul Shakhbanov, a resident of Makhachkala, after a search was detained and taken to an unknown place by law enforcers, said his mother Zumrud Mirzaeva. The on duty unit of the MIA said they knew nothing about Shakhbanov's whereabouts.

As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan, two policemen were fired for pressing journalists, when the latter covered in Baku the solidarity actions with the ongoing demonstrations in Turkey.

Leaders of Chechnya have acknowledged the fact of participation of republic's natives in the war in Syria. According to the source of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the Council for Chechnya's Economic and Social Security, so far, 29 natives of the republic have taken part in the war in Syria; seven of them were killed.

The press service of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan has reported that on June 11 and 12 Armenian armed forces shelled the Azerbaijani positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

As stated by the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Ramzan Abdrakhmanov, 20, a resident of the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya, will stand trial for his public calls to terror acts. The police say that this is the first case in Chechnya, when a person will face justice for committing such a crime.

The construction of the Islamic Centre in Nalchik has been suspended since September 2012 for technical reasons; and the date of resumption of the work is unknown, Sharafutdin Chochaev, the Rector of the Islamic University named after Abu Hanifa, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On June 11, the Volgograd regional branch of the "People's Alliance" Party held a picket against political repressions and politically-motivated persecutions. The action was organized by seven picketers, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The journalist Khadija Ismailova, sentenced to public works in Azerbaijan, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the documents about her administrative offence had been drawn up illegally, because policemen wrote about what had never happened. Earlier, she was fined by 400 manats (about 510 US dollars), which Ismailova had refused to pay.

Zarema Bagautdinova, an activist of the Dagestani regional public organization (DRPO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy) was summoned to the magistrate court on charges of breaching the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, said an officer of the court. Bagautdinova associates this accusation of an administrative offense with her human rights activities.

The two-day strike of lawyers against non-transparent of the Armenia Court of Cassation (CoC) is over today, said the lawyer Sona Margaryan. So far, the CoC has not expressed its attitude to the lawyers' strike.

Suren Gazaryan, a member of the Russian Coordinating Council of Opposition and an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" from Krasnodar, has been granted a residence permit in Estonia.

According to the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC), on June 11, two terror acts were prevented in Dagestan. The Committee reports that two "suicide belts" similar to those found in the republic on June 7, were neutralized in Makhachkala and Kaspiisk.

Employees of the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan have confiscated from Shakhin Rzaev, a journalist and the director of the regional office of the British Institute for War and Peace Coverage, the book entitled "Karabakh Diary. Green and Black" by the Armenian author Tatul Akopyan. This was stated by Rzaev, who treats the actions of customs officials as illegal.

In Sochi, residents of No. 5A in Akatsij Street are preparing an appeal complaint against the decision of the court, which had prescribed to demolish a toilet and a wood shed, thus depriving them of elementary amenities. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed its concern about the fate of the house tenants.

According to experts, the special operation of detaining in a Moscow house of worship of natives of Northern Caucasus republics and Azerbaijan was conducted by the police with obvious violations, which can lead to radicalization of Muslims.

Residents of Makhachkala assert that members of Examination Boards at the Unified State Examination (USE) are deliberately understating pupils' points, fearing a negative reaction of the federal centre to high results of Dagestani schoolchildren.

The delegates of the Ingush People's Congress held in Moscow have stated the increasing socio-economic problems in the republic and called to get back to the direct election of the head of Ingushetia. The Congress elected its Executive Committee of seven people, which will be chaired by Daud Garakoev, who is also a member of the All-Ingush Civil Council.

Relatives of Shamil Abdulaev, a resident of Makhachkala, report that he was kidnapped on June 6 by armed men in masks. Along with him, and Abdulaev's friend and an occasional passerby were also kidnapped, said one of his relatives.

On Monday, the Binagadi District Court in Baku sentenced the well-known Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismailova to the alternative administrative penalty of 220 hours of public works, instead of the earlier appointed fine of 400 manats (about 510 US dollars).