News

Election of the President of Russia and a number of municipal elections in the regions of Southern Russia; collapse of a section of a nine-storey apartment block after explosion in Astrakhan; announcement of the final list of presidential candidates in South Ossetia for the March 25 repeated elections; riots in the Guba District of Azerbaijan; cancellation of elections to the City Council of Lermontov, Stavropol Territory, which was sought by hunger-strikers, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of February 27-March 4, 2012, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Activity of the population at the election of President of the Russian Federation was very high in Chechen Republic and 99,82 per cent of the electorate voted for Vladimir Putin. Residents of the republic doubt that this data is true.

The hunger strike started by over 20 convicts of IIW No 1 of Makhachkala as a sign of protest against the actions of law enforcement personnel of Dagestan in going on. 20 to 50 persons are taking part in the action.

In the city of Malgobek, Ingushetia, during a special operation, two members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) were liquidated, said the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC).

In Azerbaijan, in the Khatain District of Baku, a dangerous situation was caused by a landslide, said the Azerbaijan's Ministry for Emergencies (MfE).

In Novosibirsk, law enforcers have suppressed a bandit grouping, which was engaged in financing Caucasian militants by sending money to Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria, said the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) of Russia.

After cancellation by the court of the March 4 elections to the City Council election of Lermontov, the new elections may take place not earlier than May 20, said the spokesman for the Stavropol Territorial Election Commission.

At SIZO-1 (pre-trial prison) of Makhachkala, at least two inmates opened their veins and more than a dozen others went on hunger strike in protest against the actions of Dagestani law enforcers and SIZO personnel. Advocates are not admitted to inmates; reference is made to the enhanced custody regime, human rights activists assert.

As reported by Natalia Nesterenko, a casting-vote member of the Precinct Election Commission (PEC) No. 538 of the city of Astrakhan, on March 2, at about 4:00 p.m. Moscow time, an attempt was registered to sign the final voting protocol of the presidential election well in advance.

In the village of Gulustan, Geranboy District of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant Gurban Guseinov got wounded by a mine explosion.

In Chechnya, local residents are under pressure to vote with the aim to raise the voter turnout on the election day; while employees of state institutions were obliged to be present at polling stations throughout the whole day on March 4, local residents assert.

On March 2, in the capital of Azerbaijan, independent journalists and leaders of political parties and NGOs paid tribute to Elmar Guseinov, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Monitor".

On March 2, the initiative group "Union of Free Association" lodged to the Tbilisi City Court a lawsuit against the Central Election Commission (CEC), which had refused to register their question for a referendum.

Today, the Azerbaijani Nakhichevan Court for Serious Crimes completed the process against Zeinal Bagirzade, the local oppositional activist. The court sentenced him to 7.5 years of imprisonment, having found the defendant guilty on three Articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, including fraud. According to the Zeinal Bagirzade's lawyer, the verdict will be challenged.

In the Krasnodar Territory, Suren Gazaryan and Evgeny Vitishko, the members of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", were involved as suspects in the criminal case on the fact of damage to the fence in the forest reserve territory near the summer cottage belonging to Governor Alexander Tkachov. The ecologists signed recognizance not to leave as pre-trial restriction measures.

Russia is ready to introduce visa-free regime with Georgia and to establish diplomatic relations with it. This was announced by Alexander Lukashevich, Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Russian Federation. In response, the Georgian side has stated that the diplomatic relations are not possible as long as Russia continues to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The oppositionist Vladislav Ryazantsev, the coordinator of the "Left-Wing Front" in the Rostov Region, arrested after the rally "For Fair Elections", was sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest under Article "Disorderly conduct". Starting from today, the convicted man went on a hunger strike.

On February 28, in the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan, the lawyer Patimat Abdulgamidovna Abdulaeva was attacked at the lawyer's office by two unidentified men. Dagestani law enforcement bodies reveal the reasons for the attack.

The problem of journalists' safety in Azerbaijan is still valid, and it requires effective measures to protect the journalists. This was emphasized by participants of the "round table" entitled "Development and improvement of system for journalists' safety in Azerbaijan" held on March 2 in Baku.

Residents of the capital of Dagestan complain about pressure on voters on the eve of the election of Russian President. According to their story, the republic's authorities are trying to raise the voter turnout. The Ministry of Education and Sciences of Dagestan, which is accused of using their administrative resources, said that working to improve the voter turnout within the law.