News

Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has concluded his visit to Azerbaijan, holding meetings with the authorities of the country and with representatives of the civil society. A number of human rights defenders expressed their scepticism about the position of the PACE's leader on the country's problems with human rights. However, according to the opinion of Natiq Djafarli, a representative of the movement "ReAL", the forthcoming chairmanship of Azerbaijan at the PACE will inevitably contribute to the removal by the authorities of existing human rights problems.

A patient of the Volgograd hospital kidnapped this morning was found by law enforcement agents in the house of his father. According to the patient's story, kidnappers released him, since they realized that they had kidnapped the wrong person. This was reported by the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

On May 22, Beslan Baidulaev, a resident of Grozny, born in 1977, disappeared without leaving a trace. According to his relatives' story, in 2009, Beslan Baidulaev was convicted on charges of aiding and abetting militants, and after he had served his sentence, he led a peaceful life. This was reported today by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Vladimir Kimaev, a member of the Board of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", the leader of the Sochi Branch of the "Yabloko" Party, has reported on the searches that were held today in his apartment and at the summer cottage. Law enforcement agents were carrying out the searches starting from 04:00 p.m. till 05:00 p.m. Moscow time, the ecologist reports.

Today, Nazirbek Nazhmudinov, a resident of the village of Tyube of the Kumtorkali District of Dagestan, was beaten and kidnapped in Makhachkala by a group of armed men. This was reported by his wife Aishat Magomedova.

Boris Silevich and Martin Jensen, Co-Rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee, called on the Georgian authorities to punish the persons responsible for massive clashes that took place in Tbilisi on May 17.

Two terror acts in Makhachkala, one of which committed by female suicide bomber; arrest on corruption charges of former Premier of Georgia Vano Merabishvili; election of Maikop Mayor; success of the Dagestani "Anji" FC to win bronze medals in Russia's football championships, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of May 20-26, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot.

The Azerbaijani government is using dubious charges of drug possession in order to silence the political activists who are criticizing the authorities, says the today's statement of the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

As stated by Elnur Aslanov, the head of the Division for Political Analysis and Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, the international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) uses outdated methodology to compile its reports on the human rights situation; therefore, there is no need to discuss its reports. At the same time, Azerbaijani human rights activists believe that the AI's conclusions are correct.

The Azerbaijani leadership should stop criminal prosecution of citizens for their statements and respect democratic norms in the country, Nils Mujzhnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CoE), said after his visit to Azerbaijan.

The Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Sochi Administration has been arrested on suspicion of an attempted large-scale fraud. He is accused of soliciting a bribe of 1.1 million roubles, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) said today.

After the explosion near the MIA building in Makhachkala on May 25, 19 victims were hospitalized; 13 of them are still there, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Public Health of Dagestan.

On May 20, Muslim Bibulatov, a native of the Chechen city of Argun, disappeared under unclear circumstances on the Azerbaijani-Russian border, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports.

The confessions of Igor Bestuzhy, the former administration head and city manager of Stavropol, were obtained by torture, his advocate Inna Denisova said today at a preliminary court hearing.

The President of the International Society of Meskhetian Turks "Vatan", a citizen of Russia Suleiman Barbakadze has been released from custody in Georgia, said Konstantin Dolgov, the commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Mamed Azizov, an activist of the youth movement "Nida" (Shout), who was arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of drug possession, has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Security (MNS) and the AzTV State Channel, claiming to recognize a breach of his presumption of innocence and payment of monetary compensation of moral harm.

At the trial dealing with the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, the prosecution announced the documents on refusals to institute criminal cases on defendants' complaints. The advocates and defendants complain that investigators use violence and threats in the course of inquiry.

So far, the whereabouts of Magomed Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, who disappeared on April 16 in Tbilisi, is unknown. Magomedov had left Russia because of problems with law enforcers, his sister Khadizhat asserts.

The Supreme Court of Abkhazia has sentenced Djemiko Okudjava and Otari Djgarkava, two residents of the Taglan village of the pre-border Gali District to 13 and 11.5 years of imprisonment, respectively in a high security penal colony.

Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has sentenced Darya Botvinskaya (Tikhanova) to five years at a minimum security colony for assaulting two natives of Dagestan under the motive of ethnic hatred. During the trial, the defendant pled guilty.