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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.

Forest fires in Kuban, drone attacks, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, about niqabs, and official data on the natives of Southern Russia who perished in Ukraine, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of July 8-14, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The verdict to Elena Pivovarova, the editor-in-chief of the Bataysk newspaper, and to Ekaterina Avakova, the chief accountant thereof, will be appealed against, their defence has stated. After the verdict, the issue of documenting the guardianship over the convicts' children was raised, Vera Yuzhanskaya, a journalist, has stated.

The court has sentenced Daniil Vodolagin, a Volgograd student, to five years of freedom deprivation, finding him guilty of spreading fake news about the Russian Army.

Bureaucrats fail to address the problem of taking away pasture lands from the residents of the village of Kurush, where the Samursky National Park was created, and fail to respond to numerous complaints. This was stated by the participants in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine from the Dokuzparinsky District of Dagestan in their video appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Muslims' Coordination Centre of Northern Caucasus (MCCNC) has asked the Russian President not to pass a bill banning religious clothing. The Muftis of Northern Caucasus have stated that this ban violates believers' rights. Commentators in social networks have supported the Muftis' appeal, noting that this initiative has already split the society.

The campaign to combat Muslim headdresses poses a threat of persecuting Muslims, the human rights defender believes. Lawyers have treated the request lodged by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) demanding to provide information about the pupils and teachers wearing Muslim headdresses as a violation of laws, the right to the freedom of religion and access to education.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan has re-examined the complaint lodged by Yulia Vishnevetskaya, a journalist, who was arrested for five days for taking part in an anti-mobilization action, and found no offense in her actions.

The issue of banning niqabs is not acute in North Ossetia; its Muftiate made no recommendations to abandon wearing them, the North-Ossetian Deputy Mufti has stated. There is no link between extremism and clothing; to counter it, it is necessary to develop civil institutions and improve living standards, journalists and bloggers have suggested.

A court in Elista has sentenced activist Vladimir Dovdanov*, who fled Russia, to a fine of 30,000 roubles for his failure to provide a report on the activities of a foreign agent, the human rights project "OVD-Info"* has informed.

Elena Pivovarova, the former editor-in-chief of the Bataysk newspaper “Vperyod” (Forward), was sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment on the charges of embezzlement and fraud. Ekaterina Avakova, the chief accountant of the newspaper “Vperyod”, was sentenced to four years of imprisonment.

The authorities of Switzerland have again refused to grant political asylum to Ali Bataev, a native of Chechnya, Chechen historian and journalist Mairbek Vachagaev* reported in his “Mairbek/Chechen/France” Telegram channel. A Swiss court, contrary to statements voiced by human rights defenders, found that deportation to his homeland was safe for Ali Bataev.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) obliged the authorities of Russia to pay compensation to activists from the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region for persecution and arrests.

At the trial in court regarding the disclosure of personal data of the people who laid flowers at the memorial to victims of repressions in memory of Alexei Navalny, an official of the "Volgograd-1" TV Company stated that the authors of the programme in which the story appeared were not its employees.

Vladimir Atamanchuk, a Sochi activist, was unable to obtain information from the investigator as to which exactly his words became the reason for initiating a criminal case for contempt of the court. The absence of this information in the resolution to open the case is contrary to the law, lawyers have stated.

In the Stavropol Territory, a court upheld the claim filed by a resident of the region who demanded compensation from the hospital after the death of her son as a result of poor-quality medical treatment.

A court, when considering the appeal filed by human rights defender Oleg Orlov*, took the side of the prosecutor’s office, although there is no evidence of guilt in the case, the defence claims. Letters from friends and relatives support Oleg Orlov*in a SIZO (pre-trial prison), his wife says.

Statements voiced by Alexander Bastrykin regarding the migration policy and the religious overtones of the terror acts in Dagestan caused astonishment among Muslims, political analyst Ali Magamadov notes. A dispute between Ramzan Kadyrov and Alexander Bastrykin highlighted the claims of the leader of Chechnya to be the defender of all Muslims, a former teacher from Grozny believes.