News

A court closed a criminal case on forgery of documents instituted against Abubakar Vadaev, a defence lawyer from Chechnya, due to the lack of evidence of a crime. The case was initiated by Chechen law enforcers after he made public the information about the torture of a person, Abubakar Vadaev states.

Anti-Semitism in Northern Caucasus, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, Azerbaijan against the opposition and Armenia, “benefit performance” of the Kadyrov clan, 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 October 30-November 5, 2023, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The riots at an airport in Makhachkala resulted in detention of 201 people for participation in them, and administrative protocols were drawn up against 155 of the detainees, reports the Chief Department for the North-Caucasian Federal District of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

In Krasnodar, a court fined Anzor Kvashilava, who held a solo pacifist picket and posted photographs of his protest action on social media.

In Sochi, law enforcers have detained Roman Kharitonov, who had earlier been summoned to the police in connection with his posting a video containing criticism of authorities. Roman has explained his dissatisfaction with authorities by the fact that his grandmother, a 92-year-old war veteran, was deprived of her land plot.

A Volgograd resident was fined for reposting a Ukrainian video and for his pacifist post.

Ismail-Khadji Berdiev, Mufti of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) has decorated Adam Kadyrov, the son of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who had beaten up at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) Nikita Zhuravel, a Volgograd resident accused of burning down the Koran, with the Order of Merit for the Ummah.

Nikita Zhuravel's apology to Muslims for burning the Koran will not affect the verdict, the lawyers, Galina Tarasova and Olga Skripkina, have noted. In their turn, the human rights defenders, Oyub Titiev and Svetlana Gannushkina*, have objected, believing that after Zhuravel's apology, the court may pass him a lenient sentence, if Chechen authorities would like it.

At least 20 Mercedes and GMC cars have been gifted to commanders of law enforcement units participating in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine by the head of Chechnya.

Zhalaudi Geriev, a journalist from Chechnya, has noted that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had found only one obvious violation in his case. If the ECtHR had considered the case before Russia in 2022 refused to enforce its decisions, the judges might have considered the materials in more detail, he has added.

Alexander Savin, an advocate from the "Team Against Torture" (TaT)* has asked the Court of Cassation in Pyatigorsk to overturn the sentence passed on Zarema Musaeva in Chechnya due to the unjustified charges and violations of the laws.

In their video appeal, Imams of Dagestani mosques and members of rural communities have called on the authorities not to punish the rioters detained at Makhachkala Airport.

Makhachkala city authorities have called on residents not to succumb to provocations and refrain from taking part in unsanctioned actions; they also report about their preventive work with students and schoolchildren.

After an inspection, the prosecutor’s office found justified the school administration’s refusal to allow schoolgirls wearing hijabs attending lessons in the village of Zalukokoazhe. This was reported by the schoolgirls’ mother. The woman requested the Prosecutor of Kabardino-Balkaria to lift the ban on wearing hijabs at school.

A video of the burning of the Koran in Volgograd was posted on the “Utro Dagestan” (Morning Dagestan) Telegram channel, which is associated with the recent riots at an airport in Makhachkala, states a witness in a case against Nikita Zhuravel.

The US Treasury has included Ramzan Kadyrov's son-in-law, Deputy Speaker of the Chechen Parliament Salman Zakriev and his son Yakub, who heads the "Danone Russia" Company, into the sanctions list.

After the court ruling in the case of an attempt on his life with the knowledge of Ramzan Kadyrov, the German Ministry for Migration and Refugees has granted asylum and refugee status to Mukhammad Abdurakhmanov. He has sought this status for more than six years.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found the treatment of Zhalaudi Geriev during the trial at the Shali District Court to be degrading and awarded him compensation of EUR 7500, his advocate Nadezhda Ermolaeva has informed.

Olesya Shevchenko, a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, who requested the republic’s Ministry for Public Health to provide her with medications in accordance with the law, withdrew her claim.

On the 80th anniversary of Karachays' deportation, religious ceremonies were held in the central mosque of Karachaevsk in memory of the victims of the tragic events of 1943.