News

The international non-governmental organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) has expressed its concern over the fate of Farid Gusein and Shakhriyar Gadjizade, two poets from Azerbaijan, who disappeared in Iran.

Today, in Baku, the police did not give activists of the Civil Movement for Democracy "Public Chamber" (CMDPC) an opportunity to hold a picket in front of the building of the Azerbaijani Public Television (PTV), which the oppositionists accused of failing to fulfil its functions of the public broadcaster. The opposition activists report on detentions of their supporters at their apartments and in front of the PTV building. The PTV's leaders reject the criticism of the opposition.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation (known as FSIN) found no grounds for escorting Aslan Cherkesov, a native of Nalchik, to Kabardino-Balkaria to serve his sentence there. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Azret Cherkesov, the brother of Aslan Cherkesov, convicted for the murder of Yegor Sviridov, a football fan.

Today, the City Hall of the German city of Hamburg hosted a ceremony of awarding journalists from CIS countries the annual Gerd Bucerius Prize "Free Media of Eastern Europe-2012", awarded by the German "ZEIT-Stiftung" Foundation and the Norwegian "Free Speech" Foundation.

Today, Makhachkala hosted a rally, which participants demanded to investigate the murder of Gamzatov brothers and their nephew Magomed Omarov, who were shot dead on March 18 in Kizlyar. In total, the protest action was attended by about 600 persons: residents of Kizlyar, Makhachkala, the Kizlyar and the Tsumadin Districts, and natives of the Tsumadin Districts residing in Astrakhan.

In Azerbaijan, Anar Geraily, the activist of the civil movement "NIDA" and the correspondent of the website "gunxeber.com", was arrested for 10 days on charges of violating public order and disobeying police.

Two residents of Nogai district of Dagestan who had left home and were searched for by the police upon their parents' requests were identified among members of armed underground killed in a special operation in Kizliyar district, Public prosecutor's office reported.

A soldier of statutory service perished in Sunzha district of Ingushetia as a result of an explosion of an unidentified explosive device, a source in law enforcement bodies of the republic reported.

Julia Penzina, Chief of the section of the affairs of the underage (SAU) of Police Department, initiator of inquiry on pupils of "Caucasian nationality" in the schools of Chelyabinsk, was suspended from office until accomplishment of inspection, Press service of regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior Affairs reported. Ombudsman of Chelyabinsk region Alexey Sevostianov considers that the police must know national composition of the population, however he emphasizes incorrectness of the inquiry.

In response to an action in defence of sexual minorities "Cultural diversity", carried out by NGOs in Armenia, dozens of young people came out to the streets, chanting the slogan: 'No perversion at holy land!''.

On May 22, in Tuapse, preliminary hearings in the criminal case against Suren Gazaryan and Evgeny Vitishko, members of the Board of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" and the "Yabloko" Party, accused of damaging a fence around the alleged summer cottage of Alexander Tkachov, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, were completed. The court dismissed most part of the defence's motions.

On May 22, the Kirov District Court of Astrakhan began to consider materials on the lawsuit filed by Oleg Shein, the ex-candidate for the position of City Mayor, relating to electoral precincts in the Lenin District. Witnesses, speaking at the trial, reported on a number of violations in the course of the election of City Mayor.

On May 11, Muslimat Magomedova, the resident of the village of Nechaevka of the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan, sent to President Vladimir Putin an appeal, in which she asked him to take investigation into the murder of Maryam Magomedova, her daughter, under his personal control and take steps to ensure that the criminal case against the murderers would be brought to court.

Ruslan Rakhaev, ex-Deputy Chief of Cherkessk Police, accused of beating to death a detainee, did not commit that crime. This was stated by his aunt Lydia Zhabelova and his sister Amina Kazakova from Nalchik. They conducted their own investigation and believe that the case against Ruslan Rakhaev bears signs of falsification. Rakhaev's lawyer believes that his client had no motive to commit the crime, of which he is charged. According to Adalbi Shkhagoshev, the State Duma Deputy, the version of Ruslan Rakhaev's relatives is worth attention of investigators.

Tonight, in the centre of Baku, activists held a walking rally to attract attention of city residents and foreign visitors, who arrived in Azerbaijan to watch the song contest "Eurovision 2012", to the problems with democracy in the country. The protesters wore white T-shirts with slogans reading: "Sing for Democracy".

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Dagestan (RD) refused to sanction rally against the arbitrariness of law enforcement bodies planned to be held on May 28 in Makhachkala. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the Ministry of Justice.

A soldier of the Azerbaijani State Border Guard Service shot dead his colleague and then committed suicide.

Today Abdurahman Magomedov detained on May, 19, during a special operation in Makhachkala was released from Kirov district Department of Interior Affairs, his attorney Ziyavdin Uvaisov reported.

On May, 22, four employees of Dendrologic park "Southern Cultures" in Adler district of Sochi went on a hunger strike because of non-payment of wages, leader of local branch of KPRF Yury Dzagania reported.

Information appeared in Russian blogs and mass media that a police officer in Chelyabinsk made an inquiry about schoolchildren natives of the Caucasus in the educational institutions. Representatives of the Public Chamber of Russia are currently going to look into the situation.