News

Small number of female deputies in the National Assembly of new convocation can be explained by the passivity of women living in Armenia and the lack of equal conditions. This was stated by Larisa Alaverdyan, an ex-MP of the previous convocation, during the discussion, devoted to the problems of women's participation in the recent parliamentary elections, held on May 6.

Ilham Aliev, Azerbaijani President, granted pardon to 66 convicts. Among the pardoned convicts, there are persons, who are recognized by a number of international organizations as political prisoners.

Parents of Anzor Koshiev, a resident of the village of Kakhun of the Urvan District of Kabardino-Balkaria, born in 1981, appealed to the Republic's Human Rights Centre with a complaint about kidnapping of their son by power agents. At present, according to them, Anzor Koshiev is being kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of Nalchik, and he was charged of illegal possession of weapons and drugs.

On June 18, in Nalchik, law enforcement agents kidnapped Eldar Mamaev, a local resident, born in 1982. This was reported by his brother Rustam Mamaev. The kidnapped man is a faithful Muslim; he prays and attends a mosque every Friday, and for a long time, he has been noticing that he is followed. His relatives fear that in case of his detention he may be subjected to unlawful methods of investigation.

Lasha Belkaniya, a resident of the village of Khumushkhur of the Gali District of Abkhazia, born in 1977, was kidnapped last night from his home. This was reported by a representative of the local OVD (Interior Division).

On June 21 and 22, Adygea held events, dedicated to the commemorative date of the beginning of Great Patriotic War. Tonight, the capital of the republic hosted a picket, dated to the Day of Memory and Mourning.

Relatives of Rustam Ismailov, kidnapped in the village of Semender in Dagestan, believe that he is being kept at the Kirov ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala. At present, they are gathering near the ROVD building.

The Supreme Court of Dagestan pronounced a verdict of guilty against Ibragimsultan Magomedov, a resident of the republic, accused of killing his sister and her two children. Ibragimsultan Magomedov was sentenced to life imprisonment in a high security penal colony.

Several residents of the village of Tsibari of the Tsuntin District of Dagestan, where on June 1, Zairbek Gazimagomedov, a local school teacher, was killed, appealed to human rights defenders, with a complaint about violation of their rights. Zulfukar Magomedrasulov, one of the complainants, spoke of, according to him, unlawful detention by law enforcement agents and beatings during interrogations. According to him, power agents asked him, why he had appeared in some lists, compiled by the killed man.

Last night, in the city of Buinaksk, unidentified persons killed a 62-year-old woman. This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan. According to a source in the law enforcement agencies, the woman, who was killed in Buinaksk, was allegedly involved in healing.

Musa Toriev, a resident of Ingushetia, who was detained on June 20 in the town of Sleptsovsk on suspicion of involvement in illegal armed formation (IAF), was released. Till present, the law enforcement agencies have not confirmed his detention.

Relatives of Leila Kulgishieva and Shakhban Shakhbanov, two residents of Dagestan, filed a complaint to the police about their disappearance. This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

On June 17, Viskhan Daudov, a 27-year-old resident of the village of Staraya Sunzha, was captured and driven away to some unknown destination from the mosque of the Grozny village named after Kalinin. According to residents of Grozny, along with him, armed men in uniform drove away two other young men, whose names were unknown.

In Baku, Khilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado", published in the Talysh language, the deputy head of the Talysh Cultural Centre, was detained on suspicion of drug possession.

Israpil Gadadov, a lawyer of the "Kavkaz" Bar, left the building of the Soviet ROVD (District Interior Division), and no charges were filed against him. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the lawyer himself during a telephone conversation.

The international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) focused on the uncontrolled and unpunished killings and kidnappings of people in Northern Caucasus in its report entitled "Vicious circle of injustice: special operations and violations of human rights in Ingushetia".

Yusup Ektumaev, Makhmud Madaev, and Kemran Karsamov were detained on suspicion of involvement in committing explosion of an improvised land mine, committed on April 17 in the Cossack village of Assinovskaya of the Sunzha District of the Chechen Republic. Their relatives and lawyer claimed that the detainees were tortured. According to them, the detainees have confessed under torture and they intend to retract unlawfully given confessions at trial.

This morning, in the street of the city of Tyrnyauz (Kabardino-Balkaria) Arthur Urusov, a local resident, was kidnapped by unidentified persons. This was reported by his mother Fatima Urusova.

On Tuesday, June 19, the Shirvan Court of Appeal of Azerbaijan, chaired by Judge Ismail Akhmedov, held consideration of the appeal, filed by Aidyn Djanyev, a regional correspondent of the newspaper "Khural". The Court dismissed the journalist's complaint and upheld the verdict of guilty, pronounced by the court of first instance.

The decision of the Tuapse District Court, which convicted ecologists Suren Gazaryan and Evgeny Vitishko to three years of conditional sentence with probation period of two years, will be challenged at the court of appeal. This was stated by the defence.