News

A month after the death of Valery Bailo, a Jehovah's Witness*, at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), his body is in the morgue; its examination is not over; and the advocates and relatives have received not a single official response. Problems in investigating deaths in custody have become systemic, human rights defenders have indicated.

For his significant contribution to sports development, Akhmat Kadyrov was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Grozny".

When commenting on a document banning namaz (prayer) in the Andropovsky District of the Stavropol Territory that had already been cancelled by the district’s authorities, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called the ban an “open discrimination and legal lawlessness.” The leader of Chechnya has suggested that the authorities of other regions should build more mosques if they do not want namaz in the street.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, acts as an informal mediator in relations with Islamic states, but has little freedom of manoeuvre in building personal relations with Middle-Eastern leaders.

Vitaly Zhuravlyov, a resident of Akhtubinsk, has been charged with two episodes of repeated discrediting of the Russian Armed Forces for his comments posted on a social network.

The Ingush Imams, Mukhammad Tamaskhanov and Magomed Sultygov, were released after detention under recognizance not to leave the place. Both of them are popular among the followers of Salafi Islam.

Anna Safronova, a Jehovah’s Witness* from Astrakhan, who complained about cruel treatment in a penal colony in Stavropol, has been released from a punishment cell. The administration of the penal colonies often uses placement to punishment cell specifically in relation to prisoners who are believers.

Human rights defenders have recognized Vitaly Zhuravlyov, a resident of the Astrakhan Region, convicted under the article on repeated discrediting the Russian Army, as a political prisoner and demanded that his criminal prosecution be stopped and he be released.

Law enforcers used brute force to detain Imam Magomed Tamaskhanov and used pressure to get a confession from him concerning his alleged ties to a terrorist grouping, religious leaders claimed. They demanded from the Ingush authorities to intervene in the situation.

Schoolboys from the Astrakhan Region have pleaded guilty to committing a sabotage act. In order to prosecute them under this article, investigators must prove that the aim thereof was to undermine the country’s economic security, a lawyer has emphasized.

Human rights defenders recognized Olga Petrova, a resident of Makhachkala, as a political prisoner. The woman was convicted in a case on financing terrorism despite arguments stating that she was not guilty.

The Georgian Parliament adopted amendments to the Law “On Grants” in the final third reading, according to which grants can only be received with the permission of the country’s government. Not a single MP has voted against the amendments.

Tofig Yagublu, an Azeri oppositional politician, was unable to walk on his own on the 16th day of his hunger strike hr holds at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and was taken to a meeting with his advocate in an electric car. During his hunger strike, Tofig has lost 10 kg of his body weight.

Lekso Samkharadze, an activist, and Levan Kanchaveli, his comrade, have been attacked in Tbilisi. Both were hospitalized with serious traumas.

The Seda Suleimanova’s support group has begun collecting signatures for an appeal demanding a fair investigation into her case. Almost 1300 electronic signatures were collected during the first day of the campaign. The appeal is planned to be submitted to the Russian presidential administration.

Chechen law enforcers have not released the nephew of Zelimkhan Mustafinov, one of the authors of the oppositional Telegram channel NIYSO; the nephew’s whereabouts after kidnapping are unknown. All the relatives of Said-Ali Abubakirov have been expelled from Chechnya; they have left Northern Caucasus.

A rally with a public display of the body of a teenager who killed a law enforcer in Achkhoi-Martan is an act of medieval savagery that has nothing in common with Chechen customs, activists of the “Memorial”* Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) note.

The actions of the man who attacked Igor Khoroshilov, a Rostov journalist, were prepared in advance, which excludes any spontaneous conflict. At the same time, the absence of direct proofs of links of the attack with Igor’s professional activities will allow law enforcers to treat the incident as a domestic conflict, lawyers have pointed out.

Before deporting relatives of the NIYSO Telegram channel’s administrators and active commentators to Ingushetia, law enforcers gathered them and local residents in the mosque of the village of Gikalo and , where a “public curse ritual” was held there. The NIYSO activists considered the events an act of intimidation of the population.

The “Amnesty International” human rights organization has called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to release and provide medical care to convicted oppositionist Tofig Yagublu, whose health state has deteriorated during his hunger strike.