News

Alexei Scherbich, a Jehovah’s Witness* from the city of Neftekumsk, has been recognized as a political prisoner, since the charges brought against him are discriminatory and violate a number of his rights, the “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” human rights project reports.

Ruslan Totrov, a political journalist from Ossetia, lodged a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee regarding two court’s decisions pronounced against him in Russia.

Three months after the initiation of the case on Seda Suleimanova's murder, investigators have failed to make any conclusions; the process is deliberately being sabotaged, the petition created by Lena Patyaeva, a Seda's friend, has stated.

The European Union (EU) has included Aimani Kadyrova, the mother of the head of Chechnya, and the Kadyrov Fund into the sanctions list. Ramzan Kadyrov said that the sanctions only confirm his mother's merits.

The militants' attacks in Dagestan were law enforcers' failure, who could not pay due attention to preventive work, veterans of special services have pointed out, adding that attackers' actions were similar to the tactics of militants of the "Islamic State" (IS)*.

During the militants’ attack, 20 people were killed and 46 others were injured, the Dagestani Ministry for Public Health reported.

Shooting during a militant attack in Makhachkala frightened people, and it became difficult to move around the city because of the cordons arranged by law enforcers, local residents said.

Shooting in Dagestan, drones in the Caucasus, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, verdict against seven Ingush activists, 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 June 17-June 23, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Kevin Lik, a resident Maykop, convicted for treason, will not be sent to a German prison as a German citizen, since only his Russian citizenship matters for Russian law enforcers, lawyers have explained.

Ayats (verses) of the Koran, references to which were left by attackers at a synagogue in Derbent, are interpreted by the extremists to justify their confrontation with Jews and Christians, Leonid Syukiyainen and Dmitry Mikulsky point out. The experts suggest that the date of the attack on the Orthodox temple was chosen by the militants because of the Christian holiday celebrated on that day.

The Elista City Court has convicted three female Jehovah's Witnesses*: Kishta Tutinova has been sentenced to three years, Tsagan Khalgaeva and Ekaterina Menkova – to two years of conditional imprisonment each.

The attacks committed by militants on churches and synagogues have interrupted a 13-month-long calm period in Dagestan. Earlier, the republic faced a number of attacks on religious figures and worship places.

After the start of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, Russian law enforcers are more actively initiating criminal cases of treason; and appellate courts are upholding the verdicts, lawyers have commented on the verdict passed to Vladislav Poruchikov, a student from Taganrog.

The Court of Appeal in Sochi has upheld the sentence of activist Vladimir Atamanchuk, who was found guilty of libel and sentenced to 200 hours of compulsory labour.

Law enforcers have opened a criminal case against Martin Kochesoko*, an activist from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), for evading the duties of a foreign agent.

A court in Makhachkala has demanded from law enforcers to eliminate violations in the case of the journalist Idris Yusupov*, accused of failing to fulfil the duties of a foreign agent.

Musa Aliev, a resident of the village of Mutsalaul, has demanded to treat the suspension of the trial against the law enforcers who had beaten him up during his detention within a rape case as illegal. The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the suspension, citing the fact that one of the accused had gone to the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine.

It is 20 years since the attack of Shamil Basaev's militants on Ingushetia, as a result of which 78 people were killed and 113 others were wounded. In Nazran, renovation of the memorial to the victims of the attack is being completed, the city Mayoralty has informed.

All the chances to achieve punishment for Tagir Velagaev, a pensioner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), for assassinating his ex-wife Umazhat Guseinova have been exhausted, the advocate of the suffered party has stated. Those accused of committing murders often refer to a state of passion in order to get the verdicts mitigated, human rights defenders have noted.

An article, under which Alyona Agafonova, a blogger from Samara, was sentenced to correctional labour for desecrating the monument “The Motherland is Calling!”, provides no clear definitions, and there is no official list of symbols of the Russia’s military glory, human rights defenders pointed out.