News

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) obliged Russia to pay 10,000 euros to each of the four Dagestani Jehovah’s Witnesses*, sentenced to suspended imprisonment, considering their persecution a violation of the right to personal integrity and freedom of religion.

Javier Yarmagomedov, a blogger and streamer, detained within the case of insulting believers' feelings by mocking the Christian cross-live on air, has been charged with child pornography circulation.

Three men have beaten up an animal rights activist when he tried to check the living conditions of dogs at a shelter that is supposed to provide humane care for stray animals. One of the attackers wrote a denunciation against the activist, accusing him of discrediting the military.

Eight months later, investigators in Moscow have opened a criminal case into the beating of Tamerlan Marzoev, a North-Ossetian native, by law enforcers.

Murad Magomedov, a journalist from Dagestan, voiced a public apology to residents of Ingushetia for a video released on a TV channel, which reported that a young woman from the village of Plievo, using elements of disguise, allegedly got married several times.

The police considered a video with a verse by Kuban activist Marina Melikhova posted on YouTube as discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. Marina Melikhova noted that she did not post the video, since at that time she was serving her sentence in a SIZO (pre-trial prison) and that she learned about the mentioned video from the police.

The head of the Primorsko-Akhtarsky division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has apologized to Andrei Popov, a local resident, for beating him by a law enforcer, human rights defenders have reported.

After leaving Moscow for Chechnya, Timur Idalov, a Chechen advocate, accused within the case of threats to the prosecutor and put on the wanted list, is unlikely to hide from investigators in Chechnya, like those involved in the Nemtsov murder case, lawyers and human rights defenders have suggested.

The Volzhsky City Court repeatedly considered a case against Alexander Yefimov, a member of the federal bureau of the “Yabloko” Party, who was found guilty of giving an interview to the “Golos” (Vote)* movement. Alexander Yefimov was again found guilty and fined 15,000 roubles. Alexander Yefimov called the court’s decision a precedent and announced his intention to lodge an appeal against it.

Kevin Lik, an 18-year-old teenager from Adygea, convicted of high treason, claims that after he has complained about being deprived of contacts with the outside world, he began receiving threats of physical violence in the penal colony.

A resident of the Pavlovsky District studied banned extremist books and tried to recruit new members into the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses*, investigators suggest.

In Moscow, law enforcers have detained Javier Yarmagomedov, a native of Dagestan, who had trampled on a cross, on charges of insulting believers' feelings. Ismail Berdiev, the head of the Muslims' Coordination Centre of Northern Caucasus, has demanded that the blogger be punished for mocking a Christian symbol.

After the hostage-taking in the Rostov SIZO (pre-trial prison), relatives lost contact with a native of Dagestan, Magomed Khanilaev, accused within the “prison jamaat” case, his wife has complained. Khanilaev was taken to the Taganrog SIZO, and its employees are refusing his meeting the advocate, a Khanilaev’s defender has complained.

A native of Dagestan living in Moscow has made a public apology to believers for trampling on a Christian cross during a live broadcast on the Internet. He has stated that he fell victim to a provocation. Commentators in social networks demanded that the streamer be punished and recalled the beating of Nikita Zhuravel by Ramzan Kadyrov's son for burning down the Koran.

In Nalchik, a court which recognized the FSB’s refusal to provide the collected data as legal, did not take into account the facts proving that the check at the airport in Mineralnye Vody was carried out on behalf of the FSB. The above has been claimed by activist Olga Begretova in her appeal, the “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD)* reports.

During the investigation into the attack on Ingushetia by a militant grouping led by Shamil Basaev, law enforcers were detaining people from Chechnya in refugee camps, human rights defenders recalled. They called the investigation system involving classified witnesses questionable.

The bill put forward by Vladislav Davankov, a Vice-Speaker of the Russian State Duma, to ban wearing religious clothing in schools and public places is anti-Islamic in nature, the Muftis of North-Caucasian regions are sure.

Zaur Magomedov, arrested within the case of the militant attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala, has reported torture and called himself not involved in the incidents, Shamil Khadulaev, the head of the Dagestani Public Oversight Commission (POC), has stated.

When commenting on the detention of a man suspected of preparing an attack on a temple in Maikop, analysts have noted that churches and synagogues attract terrorists as targets of their attacks due to weak security. The analysts believe that strengthening security measures can prevent attacks.

When working in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova put the law above anything else and solved all problems exclusively in the legal field, and her main merit was saving lives, stated colleagues of the human rights defender who was killed 15 years ago.