News

A court dismissed a complaint filed by journalist and economist Farid Mekhralizade, arrested in the “Abzas Media” case, about a refusal of the prosecutor’s office to recognize the fact of inhuman treatment during the detention. The defence intends to lodge an appeal against the court’s decision.

In Krasnodar, the Cassation Court has cancelled the acquittal of the police inspectors who beat disabled person Yevgeny Manchenko in 2019, and the case has been returned to the regional court for a new trial for the fourth time, the “Team Against Torture”* reports.

The investigators’ version in the case against Dagestani native Magomed Magomedov is unfounded, and some of the documents in the case have been falsified, advocates claim in their appeal. The defenders emphasized that even under torture, Magomed Magomedov had not given a confession.

The police have detained Elena Patyaeva during her solo picket held in Saint Petersburg, where she demanded an inquiry into the disappearance of Seda Suleimanova. The reason for the detention was an alleged violation of anti-Covid restrictions.

At her solo picket held in Saint Petersburg, Elena Patyaeva has stated that within 10 months the inquiry into the disappearance of her friend, Seda Suleimanova, had yielded no results.

A court in Grozny has extended the arrest of Zarema Musaeva in the case of disrupting the work of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) until February 24, 2025.

Mziya Amaglobeli, a journalist, who has been on her hunger strike for the third week, feels satisfactory, her condition is monitored by doctors. More than 300 Georgian journalists have signed a letter in Mziya’s support.

Vakho Pitskhelauri, an activist, was kidnapped and beaten up by unknown persons; he managed to escape. He believes that his kidnapping had to do with his participation in protests against the policy of the “Georgian Dream” Party.

The court has fined Yulia Seireikidis, a resident of the city of Stavropol, by 30,000 roubles, finding her comments posted in the social network as discrediting the Russian Army.

The attention of the Dagestani authorities to a complaint filed by Magomed Magomedov, a native of the republic, about torture by law enforcers in the Moscow Region could affect the investigation, analysts believe.

In Volgograd, a rally, dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, was attended by members of the Jewish community, local officials, and guests of the city. Some participants of the rally have claimed that the tragedy of the Holocaust is not being sufficiently covered in educational institutions’ programmes.

Five armoured Changan pickups have been sent to fighters of the Chechen military units.

Magomed Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, who complained about torture at a police station, has been visited in a temporary detention facility (IVS) in Moscow by officials from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) and the prosecutor’s office. Human rights defenders have also visited the defendant in the IVS.

Devlet Ismailov, a resident of Makhachkala, has claimed that the law enforcement bodies fabricated a case against him for creating a terrorist organization and that a court arrested him without any grounds.

Tragedy in Imishli, pollution in Anapa, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, protests in Georgia, 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 January 20-26, 2025, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has noted the intensification of repressions against journalists and activists in Azerbaijan and called on the international community to condemn human rights violations.

In 2024, the human rights situation in Azerbaijan worsened in all the parameters of political freedoms; repressions against journalists and activists intensified, and custody conditions in detention places grew poorer.

Magomed Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, who lives in Moscow, has claimed that he was tortured after being detained on suspicion of upgrading weapons.

Khamidulla Yapov, a resident of Chechnya, has served two sentences for his links with Chechen militants in 1999-2000; but after his terms were over, he was charged with new accusations.

During the stay at the shelter of Zaira Pirova, who later left for Georgia and from there returned to Dagestan to her relatives, unknown people tried to enter the shelter for violence victims. The SK SOS Crisis Group* changed the address of the shelter; since human rights defenders found it useless to turn to the police.