News

Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), expressed his concern over the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan and urged the authorities to release arrested journalists.

After Lyudmila Alekseeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, two other well-known human rights defenders announced their withdrawal from the Presidential Council on Human Rights. They are Valentin Gefter, Director of the autonomous non-commercial organization "Institute of Human Rights", and Boris Pustyntsev, Chairman of the Saint Petersburg public human rights organization "Civil Control". This was reported today by Mikhail Fedotov, Chairman of the Council.

Demand of Muftis of Northern Caucasus to hold fair consideration of the ban of 65 books on Islam in Orenburg; calamity that struck Djeirakh District of Ingushetia; arrival of repatriates from Syria in Kabardino-Balkaria and criminal case against Mayor of Nalchik; amnesty of "prisoners of conscience" in Azerbaijan; court's decision to fine Oleg Shein by 20,000 roubles for an unauthorized rally; protest action in Yerevan in context of beating military doctors near the MP's restaurant, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of June 18-24, 2012, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Today, representatives of the youth movement of "Georgia Dream", the political coalition of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, held an action "Chamber of Gossip" in front of the Control Chamber of Georgia in Tbilisi.

In the centre of Batumi, activists of a number of Georgian public and political organizations held a protest action against construction of a mosque.

In Dagestan, Gadjimurad Ismailov, a lawyer of the "Kavkaz" Bar, again cannot locate whereabouts of Rustam Ismailov, who was detained in Makhachkala on suspicion of bearing a firearm.

Ramazan Akhmedov, a resident of the village of Shamkhal, was allowed to take from the morgue the body of his nephew Iskhaq Magomedov, who was killed on June 10, according to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan, in the course of operational and search activities in the outskirts of the village.

In Abkhazia, a 35-year-old Lasha Belkaniya, who was kidnapped by unidentified persons for ransom, returned home alone. This was told to journalists by officers from the Gali ROVD (District Interior Division). His health state is satisfactory; however, his family members refuse to disclose the details of his return.

At the night of June 24, explosive devices of unidentified type were thrown into the yards of two mothers of persons, suspected of involvement in illegal military formations (IAFs) in Khasavyurt (Dagestan). Another explosive device was detonated near the house of a resident of Makhachkala. No one suffered.

On June 23, a rally against development of nickel deposits in the Voronezh Region was held in the township of Mikhailovka located in the Volgograd Region. The protesters demanded to repeal the nickel development project, because, in their opinion, it would entail a huge environmental damage.

The acquittal of Sergey Evloev, accused of involvement in an illegal armed formation (IAF), banditry and attacks on law enforcer has proved the legitimacy and competence of jurors, Dagestani lawyers assert.

Today, Krasnodar has hosted a roundtable "Problems of protection of citizens' legitimate rights to use forest and coastal areas in the Krasnodar Territory", organized by the Public Chamber of Russia. The invited environmental officials and law enforcers and the administration of the Territory failed to appear at the discussion.

In Azerbaijan, the process is underway of registering bookshops selling religious literature; in Baku, 25 such shops have received such licenses. At the same time, the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations is drafting proposals aimed at simplification of the import into the republic of sacred books, said Elshad Iskenderov, the head of the Committee.

Alexei Grebenskoy, the defender of the world champion in mixed martial arts Rasul Mirzaev, has filed a complaint against the decision of the Khamovniki District Court in Moscow to extend Mirzaev's custody.

On June 22, Yerevan hosted a protest was organized by members of the initiative group named "We demand to punish all those responsible for the 'Harsnaqar' incident".

On June 22 in Nalchik, a TNT block and an explosive device were detected, said a source from law enforcement bodies.

On June 22, two groups of repatriates from Syria in the total number of 31 persons arrived in Nalchik, said Akhmad Stash, the head of the "Peryt" – a public organization for helping compatriots to come to homeland of their ancestors.

On June 22, a shooting burst out near a sports camp, located on the bank of the Yaryk-Suv River; two children were hurt.

The Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking States (TurkPA) intends to develop a united alphabet for Turkic-speaking countries. Azerbaijan has set up a special group of scientists to this end.

On June 21, the Iranian authorities acknowledged the fact of detention of two Azerbaijani citizens – young writers Farid Gusein and Shakhriyar Gadjizade.