News

Intensifying repression and presidential election in Azerbaijan, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, echoes of Nagorno-Karabakh, Palestine 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 December 18-24, 2023, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Passers-by and drivers reacted less actively than earlier to the solo picket held by journalist Idris Yusupov* in support of Palestine. The picketer explained the decrease in the people’s interest by the emotional fatigue of the city residents from the news about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

A case against Samat Suleimanov, a mobilized resident of Astrakhan, sentenced for leaving his military unit without permission, has been returned for reconsideration. The judge in Grozny did not take into account that Samat Suleimanov was hospitalised after being beaten by his colleagues, the court of appeal indicated.

Nikolai Nabiev, a resident of Kuban, accused in a case on preparing to destroy cell phone towers, has complained that the administration of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in which he is being kept refuses to provide him with medical treatment.

Alexander Bershadsky, a resident of Temryuk, was fined 30,000 roubles for the pacifist comments he voiced while at work.

A court of cassation upheld the verdict against Shamil Idrisov, a resident of Makhachkala, who was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on the charge of possessing a grenade. The court found unconvincing the arguments that the case materials were fabricated for Shamil Idrisov’s refusal to secretly cooperate with the law enforcement bodies.

For seven years, investigators have been unable to identify the attackers on journalists on the Chechen-Ingush border, the “Team against Torture” (TaT)* has stated.

A court in Grozny for the fourth time has refused to consider the complaint lodged by Timur Debishev, an actor, who is challenging the investigator’s decision not to initiate a criminal case about torture.

The Sovietsky District Court of Volgograd has treated a pacifist sticker on the car window as discrediting the Russian Armed Forces and fined Oleg Moiseenko, a Volgograd resident, by 30,000 roubles.

A court in Strasbourg has sentenced a native of Chechnya to 15 months in custody, finding him guilty of promoting terrorism due to his videos and songs of the “Islamic State” (IS)* posted n social networks.

Additional police forces have been deployed to the streets of Makhachkala following calls for a rally posted online, and several streets have been cordoned off, sources report.

Most of those accused in criminal cases for participation in mass riots at an airport in Makhachkala have had their arrest periods extended until the end of March, while almost no investigative actions are being carried out, and a number of the arrestees are banned from being visited by their relatives and friends.

Advocate Alexander Nemov, who was beaten in Chechnya, requested Alexander Bastrykin, the chair of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), to transfer the case on the attack to another region.

A court sentenced Kureish Timurziev to seven years of imprisonment for inflicting several knife wounds to his wife Nata Matieva, the head of the “Good People Club” charity foundation, because of her desire to get a divorce.

In Rostov-on-Don, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Vladimir Udovik to imprisonment under the article on participation in a terrorist community, recognizing him as a shooter of the Ukrainian “Aidar” battalion*.

The Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has found no elements of the crime in the threats that advocate Tatiana Solomina received from a mother of her client from Chechnya. Investigators have refused to institute a criminal case. Tatiana Solomina intends to file an appeal against the ICRF’s decision.

Although the proposal to introduce Arabic into the school curriculum is politically motivated, it will be received positively in the republics of Northern Caucasus, where many parents of schoolchildren want their children to study Arabic.

In London, a court arrested Magomed-Khusein Dovtaev, a native of Chechnya, finding him guilty of attempting to collect information for a subsequent attack on employees of the “Iran International” opposition TV Channel. The native of Chechnya states that he had been “put under fire.”

In Dagestan, a court sentenced Stavropol residents Arifulla Avezov and Akhmet Terekbaev to 14 years of imprisonment, recognizing them as participants in an armed attack of the militant groupings led by Basaev and Khattab on the republic in 1999.

The prosecutor’s office issued a complaint to the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of Dagestan due to the untimely provision of people with disabilities with the rehabilitation means to be provided to them under the law, the “Patient Monitor” human rights organization reported.