News

After a denunciation that was made against Denis Djalaganiya, a public animal welfare inspector, that he had allegedly discredited the Russian Army in his pacifist publications posted in an animal rights group chat, an administrative protocol was drawn up against him.

In Rostov-on-Don, the police dragged out the decision to open a criminal case about an attack on the female lawyer who defended militaries' rights, who had refused to take part in military operations. The police said that an additional check was needed, she has stated.

The elections in Southern Russia were uncontested and were accompanied by voting violations, while the opposition was unable to achieve noticeable results almost anywhere, since there are no prominent politicians in the regions, analysts note.

Elections in Southern Russia, fires and drones in the Caucasus, victory of the ruling party in Azerbaijan, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, 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 September 2-8, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

At a polling station in the Abinsky District, a difference in voter turnout data has been recorded, which may indicate ballot stuffing. In the Seversky District, pressure was exerted on voters and observers. In Gelendzhik, the police were called to a polling station due to preparations for ballot stuffing, observers reported.

New cases of ballot stuffing and violations during home voting have been recorded at polling stations in Kuban (Krasnodar Territory); and observers faced obstacles from members of the election commissions, observers assert.

The repeated inclusion of the "Civil Initiative against Environmental Crime"* into the register of foreign agents is an example of authorities' pressure on eco activists, environmentalists from Kuban (Krasnodar Territory) assert. According to their version, due to authorities' pressure, many colleagues have abandoned their public activities.

After closing the polling stations in Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), violations during vote tabulation were recorded, observers have stated. Complaints about the process of summing up the election results are coming from the Seversky District.

The Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has justified the inclusion of Alexander Saveliev*, a journalist, and David Kankiya*, an activist, both from Krasnodar, by their participation in the creation of materials for foreign agents and spreading false information about authorities' decisions.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has awarded EUR 5000 in compensation to Ekaterina Vereschagina, an activist from Rostov-on-Don, concluding that Russian authorities had violated her right to the freedom and peaceful assembly by detaining her for 10 days in 2021 after she took part in an action in support of Alexei Navalny*.

Residents of the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories have faced coercion to vote at the recent elections, voters have reported. From the Seversky District of the latter, the "Map of Election Violations" also received reports of pressure on an observer and violations during home voting.

Roman Melnichenko, a former teacher at the Volgograd State University and an international law expert, has been released after three days of arrest. Law enforcers cited his refusal to show his passport as the reason for the accusation of disobeying policemen.

Dmitry and Pavel Masenko are back at home; law enforcers have returned part of their property seized during the search that was conducted within the case of preparing a terror act, a female relative of the young men has informed.

A court sentenced two residents of the Stavropol Territory who burned the New Testament and recorded their act on camera to real terms of imprisonment. The third defendant, a minor, was sentenced to conditional imprisonment.

The Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has recognized journalist Zalina Marshenkulova* from Kabardino-Balkaria as a foreign agent. According to the MoJ’s report, Zalina Marshenkulova* has spoken out against the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, spread fakes about the decisions of the Russian authorities, and promoted LGBT** relations.

Law enforcers came to conduct searches in connection with the case of preparing a terror act to residents of the village of Lysogorskaya – brothers Dmitry and Pavel Masenko, and a resident of Georgievsk Sergey Chikishov; they seized equipment, the Koran and their phones.

The court has arrested Roman Melnichenko, a former teacher at the Volgograd State University, for three days for disobeying policemen and fined him under the article on discrediting the Russian Army.

In Kazan, a court extended the arrest of Dagestani native Askhabali Alibekov by three months. The blogger claims that he hit a law enforcer not intentionally, when policemen were twisting his arms.

The police came to a 95-year-old mother of journalist and human rights defender Svetlana Anokhina to take a saliva sample from her. The human rights defender has called the police actions intimidation of the elderly woman.

Residents of the village of Vyselki, Vladimir Lepsky, Irina Ushakova and Natalia Novoseletskaya participated in meetings and training events in order to continue the activities of the banned religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses of the Vyselkovsky District", investigators assert.