News

Investigators have brought final charges against Anar Mamedli, an Azerbaijani human rights defender, under five criminal articles. The case has been sent to court; his defence insists on Mamedli’s innocence.

The court banned the activities of the “International Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists Church Kurganinsk” religious association for its illegal missionary activities.

Ingush Ombudsperson Zarema Chakhkieva reported that a resident of Saint Petersburg contacted her. The woman is looking for her children taken by her former husband to Ingushetia.

Court marshals must preserve confiscated property, but only works of art included into the Museum Fund are subject to special protection. In the case of the seizure and destruction of sculptures from the Yelansky Cossack Museum, their fate can be determined by the court.

Ukrainian citizen Andrei Kolomiets has been released after ten years of imprisonment. At present, he stays in a deportation centre in Kuban. The man converted to Islam, as only Muslims supported him during his imprisonment.

Applicants for Russian citizenship from Abkhazia and South Ossetia will not need to comply with the requirements for permanent residence in the Russian Federation and knowledge of the Russian language and Russian history.

After receiving a request for the extradition of Mansur Movlaev, the authorities of Kazakhstan should conduct an investigation, and in the case of a request for asylum, give a response. If Mansur Movlaev is extradited from Kazakhstan to Russia, then, in accordance with the law, he will be delivered to Chechnya, which is of interest to the authorities of the republic.

There were numerous violations in the case of Vadim Kharchenko*, a convicted blogger from the city of Gelendjik, his parents have claimed in their appeal to President Putin; and a complaint was also filed against the verdict. Three more criminal cases have been opened against Kharchenko*.

The nomination of candidates for the presidency of Nagorno-Karabakh from parliamentary factions will begin after May 21.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has refused to satisfy the complaint lodged by Zarema Musaeva's defence and release her from the SIZO (pre-trial prison) for the investigation period.

The defendants in the Abzas Media case have petitioned for the interrogation of the law enforcers and witnesses who were present during searches and detentions, but the court has rejected their requests and declared the end of the judicial investigation.

In Northern Caucasus, law enforcers use the article on non-reporting about an intended crime to intimidate relatives and acquaintances of suspected militants, although the legal application thereof is possible only under certain conditions, while one’s close relatives are protected by the constitutional right not to report a crime.

The Akhmatovsky District Court of Grozny court has fined Tumso Abdurakhmanov*, an oppositional blogger who lives abroad, within an administrative case of violating the rules set forth for the activities of a foreign agent.

The Dagestani Muftiate and the Chechens’ Board have agreed to resolve the demolition issue of the mosque in the village of Leninaul according to the Sharia norms. Islamic scholars have treated the demand to build a mosque in place of the demolished one as not an Islam norm, but simply a local tradition.

Sand cleared of fuel oil is being transported from the Voskresensky farm yard not far from Anapa to various villages and towns in the Krasnodar Territory to simulate the safe disposal promised by the authorities, residents of Kuban complain.

The actions of the participants in the attack on police inspectors in Makhachkala on May 5 indicate criminal intent and are quite typical of militants. Meanwhile, the measured release of information about them in the media can be explained by the interests of the investigation.

A document cancelling the decree on the dissolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has been released with a call to “stop speculations” concerning the liquidation of the unrecognized state. Nagorno-Karabakh lawyers and activists argue about the legal force and appropriateness of the mentioned document.

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has partially satisfied the complaint lodged by Teimur Kerimov, the head of the YouTube resource “Kanal-11”, by reducing his prison term from eight to seven years. The defence insists on Kerimov's innocence and intends to appeal against the verdict at the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan.

The case of five residents of Ingushetia, who had failed to inform law enforcers about their acquaintances who had sworn allegiance to a terrorist organization, has been sent to court.

Mansur Movlaev, a native of Chechnya, has been detained by law enforcers in Kazakhstan. Chechen activists fear that Movlaev’s extradition to Russia threatens with torture.