News

The long absence of information about the fate of Seda Suleimanova, who was taken to Chechnya, does not give reason to believe that she was killed, experts point out. They explain that “honour killings” are not committed for lack of religiosity, and relatives could just isolate the young woman from the world.

The first court hearing of the case of repeated discrediting the Russian Army initiated against Oleg Orlov*, a co-chair of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"**, is scheduled for February 16 at the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow.

A court has obliged the police to pay 400,000 roubles in compensation to Temirkhan Amakhanov, a resident of Derbent, who had to have his spleen removed after being beaten up by law enforcers. Amakhanov claimed five million roubles as compensation for his moral harm; now, he intends to challenge the above sum, the "Travmunkt" legal assistance project has informed in its Telegram channel.

The Supreme Court (SC) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has sentenced a local resident, who had planned to take part in the special military operation (SMO) on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), to six years in a penal colony.

Investigators have excluded one of the articles of accusation from the case against Leyla Gatagazheva, a native of Ingushetia. The young mother of two children is no longer charged with complicity in terrorism. However, Leyla Gatagazheva is still being kept in a SIZO (pre-trial prison) despite the arguments submitted by her advocates.

A resident of Novocherkassk wanted to join a terrorist organization and promoted its activities on a social network, but was not aware of his actions due to insanity, a court ruled.

Vitaly Votanovsky*, an activist from Krasnodar, who left Russia because of the threat of criminal prosecution, appealed to the authorities of Croatia with a request to grant him political asylum.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Kalmykia has found natives of Dagestan, Magomed Atimagomedov and Daud Kuramagomedov, guilty of attempting to escape, murder and attempted murder, and disrupting the colony's work. Atimagomedov has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Kuramagomedov – to life-long imprisonment.

A court in the city of Magas (the capital of Ingushetia) has found Nazir Tsechoev's posts on the Telegram as discrediting the Russian Army and imposed a fine on him.

Based on the results of the inspection, the Chechen police have refused to institute a criminal case on beating of Nikita Zhuravel due to the absence of a criminal act, the Russian Ombudsperson’s Office reports.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded compensation to activists from Anapa and Sochi who participated in rallies in support of Alexei Navalny* in January 2021.

A Krasnodar female blogger and her girlfriend made a video in which one of them proposed to the other, after which they were kissing each other with passion. The police drew up protocols against the both young women for promoting non-traditional sexual relations.

The Makhachkala Garrison Military Court has sentenced Akhmed Kurbanov, a contract soldier, to two years in penal colony, finding him guilty of refusing to take part in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. The judge has treated the defendant's argument that his contract expired in 2022 as unconvincing.

Sources in Chechnya has voiced out the version that Seda Suleimanova was killed by her relatives, the SK SOS Crisis Group* has reported and demanded from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) and the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to conduct a check.

When commenting on the information about the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Atmurzaev in Grozny, lawyers have noted that law enforcers have the right to use firearms when there is a threat to society.

Natalia Dorozhnova, an activist from Volgograd, filed an appeal against the decision of the Central District Court, which imposed a fine on her for repeatedly discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The statistics confirm that the chances of the fine being cancelled are high, notes Maria Chaschilova, a lawyer at the human rights project “OVD-Info”*.

A court in Pyatigorsk has postponed the consideration of the appeal against the verdict of Zarema Musaeva for a month due to her inability to take part in the court session via video conferencing.

The Nalchik Garrison Military Court sentenced a mobilized local resident to eight years of imprisonment for evading military service. Earlier, the man has been sentenced to a probation under the same article.

Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the "Akhmat" Special Forces, has treated those who criticised the idea of the "Akhmat" People's Friendship Academy as "armchair heroes", suspecting them of having links with Ukraine and LGBT* people. Activists of the "Rusich" unit, commenting on Alaudinov's indignation towards "Russian nationalists", refused to apologize.

In the Volgograd Region, a court sentenced Dmitry Vanifatiev to a fine, recognizing his pacifist comment posted on a social network as discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.