News

Explosion in Volgograd, drone attacks, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, about niqabs and hijabs, 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 1-7, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Military correspondent Vladimir Romanov has voiced public apologies after he called members of the “Akhmat” Chechen special forces “TikTokers” and said that their units stayed behind the units in which conscript soldiers serve. Social media users considered the apologies inappropriate and suggested that Vladimir Romanov recorded his video with apologies under pressure.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Kalmykia has commuted the sentence of an HIV-infected convict, assigning him four years of freedom restriction instead of forced labour.

The eleven Makhachkala policemen, whose case has been sent to court, are accused of torturing Kurban Dalgatov and attempts to hide his violent death, the advocate for Kurban's family has stated. Dalgatov's relatives treat the defendants' boss as also responsible for his death.

The niqab problem is far-fetched for Russia, but the ban thereof introduced in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) will be followed by attacks on hijabs and other attributes of Islam, the Islamic scholars interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" are sure.

There is no need to introduce a dress code for the pop performers who come to give concerts in the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), since the performers are sensitive to local traditions, tour organizers have commented on the officials' idea.

Omar Alibutaev, an actor and comedian, has apologized to the Dagestani people for his statements about the ban on wearing niqabs. Thus, speaking about niqabs, he said that nightclubs are also contrary to the Dagestani culture.

For violating the norms of the Sharia Law, offenders should respond before the Sharia Court; and the patrols that use threats and beatings against violators are doing arbitrariness. This was stated by religious scholars after the detention of Sharia patrols in the city of Tyrnyauz.

In his complaint lodged with the UN Human Rights Committee Vitaly Fedorenko, a resident of Mikhailovsk, has claimed that six fines imposed on him under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces for expressing personal opinions are unlawful and violate human rights.

The court handed down an overly lenient sentence to five law enforcers convicted of kidnapping and torturing a woman from Dagestan; and the lengthy investigation into the case is related to the systemic problems in the law enforcement system, lawyers have pointed out.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow found Maria Mamedova, a former employee of the Stavropol Territorial Department of the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), earlier convicted in a criminal case on promoting terrorism, guilty of spreading fakes about the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced her in absentia to eight years of imprisonment in a penal colony. That was reported by the “Mediazona”* portal.

The publication of threats voiced by Adam Kadyrov against blogger Khasan Khalitov does not reduce the risks for the critic of the Chechen authorities living abroad, but confirms the involvement of the Chechen authorities in the kidnapping of his relatives, a political analyst and a human rights defender state.

The topic of banning niqabs in the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) is not discussed in the Kremlin, the presidential press secretary has stated. The issues of religious clothing fall within the competence of the clergy, the Russian State Duma MPs have indicated.

Eleven law enforcers from Makhachkala have faced trial on charges of torturing Kurban Dalgatov, who died after detention. The cases of two other figurants are being considered separately.

Blogger Khadjimurad Khanov asked for house arrest in a criminal case on illegal arms trafficking, but a court placed him in custody, an advocate and a friend of Khadjimurad Khanov report. The criminal case against the blogger looks strange, since it was instituted several days after the scandal over a niqab, a Dagestani human rights defender and a journalist emphasize.

The involvement of participants in a militants’ attack in Dagestan in the “Islamic State”* and other organizations has not been confirmed; there are no signs inherent in the actions of the above-mentioned terrorist organization, analysts note.

Gays in Dagestan were in danger even before law enforcers held provocations and raids on them; and after the arrest of the gay blogger Matvei Volodin, threats have grown manifold. However, as noted by rights defenders, law enforcers have no real grounds to open cases against gays under the article on extremism.

The Southern District Military Court has found a Sochi resident guilty of preparing to defect to Ukraine and sentenced him to six years in penal colony.

The niqab-banning fatwa is not mandatory; it will be observed only by those for whom the Dagestani Muftiate is an authority; and they are not all residents of the republic. This is the result of polling religious scholars and a former Imam conducted by the "Caucasian Knot".

Wearing niqabs and burqas in modern conditions causes practical harm to Muslims and threatens discord in interreligious and interethnic relations, announces the Coordination Centre for Muslims of Northern Caucasus.