News

In the first half of 2013, the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory initiated 11 criminal cases on attempts to embezzle the funds allocated for construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi.

Children from families of refugees from Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic, affected by ethnic conflicts, will spend three months with American families. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Alikhan Akhilgov, the leader of the non-governmental organization "Foundation for assistance to earlier deported peoples".

The North-Caucasian District Court has sentenced ex-Ensign Denis Kaimakov to eight years of imprisonment for treason espionage. This was reported by the press service of the Court. The verdict was pronounced on July 25.

To date, 37 inmates of two prisons in Georgia are on hunger strike, demanding a review of their cases; two of them have sewn up their mouths, according to the Ministry of Corrections, Probation and Legal Aid.

The Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) has dismissed the complaint lodged by Zaur Gurbanly, an activist of the civil movement "Nida" (Shout), who had been accused of trafficking in explosives, against the decision to extend his custody.

The Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has announced that he suspended the decision to review and increase by 50 percent the public transport fares. The participants of the protest actions held in the Armenian capital have greeted the news with enthusiasm.

Employees of the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) are searching two brothers-natives of Uzbekistan Alisher and Zhasurbek Fazilov, whose disappearance was reported by their relatives, said Fatina Ubaidatova, the spokesperson of the MIA. So far, their whereabouts are unknown.

The large-scale amnesty initiated by the new government has resulted in an increase of crime; and citizens' safety is now under threat, said the participants of the mourning action, held in Tbilisi in memory of the murdered Mariam Kochalidze, a girl of 16 from Batumi. Her body with her throat cut was found in Batumi Boulevard in the morning on July 23.

Attempt on the rabbi of the synagogue located in Derbent in Dagestan may be associated with his religious activities. This was reported by the press service of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation.

Today, in Yerevan, at the buildings of the government, the Mayoralty, the Conservatory of Music a series of protest actions were held with demands to cancel the decision of the Yerevan City Mayoralty to raise tariffs for public transport.

In Chechnya, a 19-year-old local resident was detained on suspicion of posting on the Internet the calls for "jihad against infidels." The issue of instituting a criminal case against him for incitement to extremism is under consideration.

On July 25, at the session of the People's Assembly of Dagestan, MPs have unanimously voted to approve Abdusamad Gamidov, Finance Minister, at the position of the Prime Minister of Dagestan.

On July 24, near the building of the Sochi Mayoralty, lawyer Roman Shikarev held a solo picket against the actions of the head of the Department for Family and Children Affairs of the Sochi administration. The picketer claimed violation of the rights of a girl sought by her relatives.

On July 24, nine people came out in central Volgograd to hold a picket in support of the oppositional leader Alexei Navalny. The picket was held at the monument to Ataman Zasekin, where people held posters: "For Navalny!", "Those guilty imprison those innocent!", "Let's destroy this feudal system!"

The consideration of the murder case of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya began on July 24 at the Moscow City Court. All five defendants pled not guilty.

Murad Shuaibov, detained in Dagestan, is suspected of killing Dagestani journalists Malik Akhmedilov and Gadjimurad Kamalov. According to his advocate, investigators are forcing his client to testify against high-ranking officials of Dagestan.

On July 24, about 20 people gathered in Rhodope Boulevard in Makhachkala to hold a picket against violations of defendants' rights. The action was organized by relatives of Magomed Piraev, an operative agent of the Kizilyurt ROVD (District Interior Division), who is accused of robbery.

According to calculations of the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources, at least 296 people suffered, in the second quarter of 2013, in the armed conflict ongoing in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 118 people were killed and at least 178 more were wounded.

In Dagestan, "honour killings" (and investigators also classified the murder of Maryam Magomedova, a resident of the village of Nechaevka, as an "honour killing") are committed not often; however, "honour killings" are not uncommon, local lawyers and experts emphasize.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, within the programme "Movement of citizens from old and dilapidated buildings", officials propose several families to enter a single apartment, and in the Chegem District, no programme of movement has been developed. This was reported by Nikolai Maslov, Chairman of the Commission on Social Policy of the Public Chamber of the Republic.