News

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) has called on Azerbaijan to protect journalists from attacks, threats and harassment related to their professional work, having adopted a resolution "on a group of Khadidja Ismailova’s cases".

The activists, who used to annually organize feminist actions in Baku on March 8, have abandoned the traditional march. They have called on the authorities to release the arrested Abzas Media and Meydan TV journalists.

The verdict in the case against Derbent native Ulker Gashimova is disproportionate to the degree of public danger of her statements and has signs of political persecution, human rights defenders have pointed out. They request the court to reconsider the Ulker Gashimova’s case.

Residents of Chechnya who took part in gatherings to express their dissatisfaction with the shortage of water and gas supply may be punished because their discontent was expressed publicly. The residents face from apologies and dismissals to threat of being sent to the special military operation (SMO) zone. At the same time, the authorities of the republic may also punish local officials, analysts believe.

The law is poorly protecting women from domestic violence; and the only way to really help the victim and save her life is often only immediate removal from the aggressor, human rights defenders have pointed out in their comments on the beating of a woman with four children in a Dagestani village.

The proofs in the case of the oppositionists accused of involvement in violence at protest actions were gathered with violations; and the decision to hold the trial behind closed doors violates the standards of fair trial.

The court has found illegal the search of the home Ekaterina Kuznetsova, a lawyer, who figures in the case against her colleague Georgy Legkobitov, who was accused of slandering a law enforcer. Despite the ruling, policemen have not returned the confiscated belongings to Ekaterina.

The draft law “On the registration of foreign agents” and amendments to the Law “On Broadcasting” will deprive non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media of the opportunity to continue their activities even under other organizational forms, analysts state.

Activist Lyudmila Borzilo from the Rostov Region was taken to a hospital by an investigator’s order.

International principles for the protection of prisoners’ rights were violated when Ruslan Nurushev was delivered to a court in Volgograd, claims lawyer Roman Melnichenko.

Azerbaijan is among the countries in Europe with the highest number of journalists kept in prison, with 30 at the end of 2024, reports the Council of Europe (CE) Platform for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists.

The criminal case against the human rights defender from Yessentuki, Georgy Legkobitov, accused of slandering an officer of the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service), was opened after his statement about violations in the case of his son Sergey, who was convicted in a bribery case.

The termination of the Erasmus+ programme projects will negatively affect the country's educational sector, Parviz Bagirov, the head of the programme's office in Baku, believes.

Residents of the Makhachkala village of Semender reported that they were alarmed by the night shootout, in which law enforcers killed four suspected militants.

The version about belonging of the militants killed in the dwelling settlement of Semender in Makhachkala to the “Islamic State” (IS)* is questionable, while the counterterrorist operation (CTO) was not duly planned, veterans of law enforcement bodies assert.

During a counterterrorist operation (CTO) introduced in Makhachkala, law enforcers killed four men. The Russian National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) has announced that the casualties were militants if the “Islamic State” (IS)*.

The counterterrorist operation (CTO) introduced in the settlement of Semender was preceded by the CTO regime on June 23, 2024, announced in Makhachkala and Derbent.

Lyudmila Borzilo, an activist from the Rostov Region, was taken to a hospital by order of an investigator. In the hospital, the activist was subjected to pressure with an attempt to convince her to agree to undergo tests for a psychiatric examination.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found threats announced by Chechen leadership against journalist Elena Milashina, who wrote about persecution of gays in Chechnya, to be a violation of her privacy and the right to the freedom of expression.

The police conducted searches at the houses of human rights defender Georgy Legkobitov in Yessentuki and of lawyer Ekaterina Kuznetsova.