News

The “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence** recognized Jehovah’s Witness* Vladimir Fomin from Cherkessk as a prisoner of conscience. The court placed the man in custody in a case on extremism, despite his disability.

The deterioration of Zarema Musaeva's health condition is another reason to apply CER (conditional early relief) to her, but she is actually being held hostage by Chechen authorities, human rights defenders have pointed out. Her diabetic cataract requires treatment at a specialized clinic, the doctor asserts.

Aida Milaidi, around whose apartment in Derbent a local deputy has built a shopping centre, has reported that she received state protection in Makhachkala. However, she is dissatisfied with the reaction of law enforcement bodies to her appeals regarding threats.

The Ministry of Culture of Kabardino-Balkaria explained the cancellation of entertainment events on the occasion of the revival day of the Balkar region by the terror act at the Crocus City Hall. Residents of the republic said that this year they refrained from celebrating because of the tragedy which occurred in the Moscow Region.

A court fined Alexander Goncharov, a resident of Sochi, 50,000 roubles for reposting in Telegram critical publications about the authorities of Russia.

Oleg Orlov*, a human rights defender, sentenced to 2.5 years in penal colony for his pacifist position, is deprived of hot meals and subjected to gruelling daily trips from the SIZO (pre-trial prison) to the court, says his advocates' complaint.

Zarema Musaeva's sense of vision has sharply deteriorated in the colony in Argun; and she also suffers from swellings and severe pain, his advocate has informed.

Torture is a grave crime; and the court ruling to sentence a law enforcer from the Krasnodar Territory (also known as Kuban by the name of the main river) to a fine of 50,000 roubles for beating up Andrei Popov is excessively lenient, human rights defenders have noted.

The Volgograd residents, whose personal data were disclosed on air of the "Volgograd-1" TV channel, intend to file complaints with law enforcement bodies.

A court in the Krasnodar Territory has fined Evgeny Volkov, a policeman, by 50,000 roubles under the case of torturing Andrei Popov, who was detained on suspicion of theft.

Alyona Agafonova, a blogger from Samara, accused of desecrating a symbol of military glory because of her video filmed near the monument "The Motherland is Calling!" has been left in custody until June 19.

A court in Moscow arrested Alisher Kasimov, a native of Kyrgyzstan, on the charge of involvement in organizing the terror act at the Crocus City Hall.

In Tatarstan, the court of appeal upheld the decision to arrest Askhabali Alibekov, a native of Dagestan, suspected of using violence against a policeman.

In Russia, the status of victims of terror acts should be legislated and state assistance should be guaranteed to them, human rights defenders claim after the terror act at the Crocus City Hall. According to the human rights defenders, the authorities still do not provide full-scale assistance to the victims of the terror act in Beslan and the militant attack on Nalchik.

A report on the awarding of “Akhmat” fighters for the detention of the suspects accused of committing the terror act at the Crocus City Hall looks like an attempt to artificially increase the importance of the Chechen military unit. That has been noted by military experts interviewed.

In Volgograd, a local TV channel has disclosed the names of people who brought flowers to the monument to the victims of political repressions in memory of Alexei Navalny, calling them potential “saboteurs.”

Igor Nagavkin, a Volgograd human rights defender, has asked the court to pay attention to contradictions in witnesses' testimonies about the time of the incident in the cell. The judge refused to add his motion to the case files.

Officials cannot define behaviour norms for the Chechen society, since they are formed by the society itself; and the search for social network users, whose actions and statements contradict the Chechens' mentality, will lead to mass repressions with forced apologies, analysts are sure.

Teenagers from different country regions, including from Southern Russia, are massively receiving offers in instant messengers from unknown persons to commit terror acts, Ekaterina Mizulina, the director of the Safe Internet League, has reported.

After the terror act at the Crocus City Hall, in Northern Caucasus, there is a risk of intensification of militants of the IS*, although no terror acts on civilians have not been observed there since 2018. This was noted by Sergey Goncharov, a veteran of special services, and Andrei Koshkin, a military expert.