News

With the information about the detention of a resident of Baku, suspected of applying graffiti with the letter Z on a wall of a cultural monument, the authorities of Azerbaijan pointedly distanced themselves from supporting the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, analysts say.

The volunteers, who complained to Kadyrov about problems with payments and medical care after returning from Ukraine, took this risk out of desperation, Ruslan Kutaev, a Caucasian expert, and Svetlana Gannushkina, a human rights defender, believe.

Despite prolonged protests held by students of the Tbilisi State University (TSU) and the promise of its Academic Council to allow exams to be taken remotely, the TSU top managers have announced that final exams would be held in person.

The participants of the protest action, held in central Yerevan since May 1, have rolled up their tents and will now join the activists seeking the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan in their street protests, Ishkhan Sagatelyan, a Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, has explained.

Tadjib Israfilov, a paratrooper officer, perished in Ukraine, Farid Akhmedov, the head of the Magaramkent District, has informed. Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the deaths of at least 145 natives of Dagestan have been officially confirmed.

The interrogation of the linguist, who had conducted the examination of the post by the Ossetian blogger, Batraz Misikov (Sidamon), has revealed violations in the procedure; and the defence demanded that his conclusion be declared invalid.

The opposition is closing down its tent camp in France Square in Yerevan and changing its struggle strategy, but not its goals; and activists should be ready to resume its round-the-clock protest regime if necessary. This was stated by Ishkhan Sagatelyan, an oppositional politician.

At a court hearing in the case against Abdulmumin Gadjiev, Abubakar Rizvanov, and Kemal Tambiev, a secret prosecution witness found it difficult to remember her testimony, which she had given to an investigator.

The police detained Alexander Saprykin, a resident of Baku, suspecting him of depicting the letter Z on the wall of the State Historical-Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher”. The man faces administrative responsibility.

The police detained a driver and two passengers of a car that drove into opposition tents in the capital of Armenia. No one was injured, the police report.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) considered complaints filed by 73 Russian NGOs against the Russian law on foreign agents and recognized it as inconsistent with the right to freedom of association. The ECtHR awarded compensation for moral and material damage to be paid to the complainants.

The Azerbaijan Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has condemned the country's authorities for arresting the lawyer, Ilham Aslanoglu, on defamatory charges, and demanded his immediate release.

The case of Evgeny Ostapenko, a resident of the Temryuk District of the Krasnodar Territory (also known as Kuban by the name of the main river), accused of discrediting the Russian militaries, has been brought to court.

Magomed Magomedov, a deputy editor-in-chief of the "Chernovik" (Draft) outlet, and Magdi Kamalov, the founder of the outlet, who held solo pickets in Makhachkala in support of their colleague Abdulmumin Gadjiev, have noted different reactions of passers-by to their pickets.

From ancient times, the respect for the clergy and authorities has helped resolving blood feudists' conflicts; and making these events public allowed priests and officials to demonstrate their influence, Caucasian experts have noted.

The commemorative "Sword of Victory" with engraved Stalin's portrait was presented to the Mayor of Grozny in connection with the fact that the capital of Chechnya has the title of "City of Military Glory". Commentators were surprised by this news, recalling the Stalinist deportation of Vainakhs.

A court in Pyatigorsk has almost halved the prison term of Islam Kubakhanov, a Dagestani resident, who had been sentenced to 8.5 years in prison on charges of links with militants. However, the court disregarded the Kubakhanov's statement about torture.

In Sochi, a former policeman has been convicted of assaulting a female detainee, partly because the incident occurred in a public place; while torture cases at law enforcement bodies are more difficult to bring to court due to law enforcers' frank pledge and absence of video cameras in their offices.

An initiative has been sent to the presidential plenipotentiary office to create a “committee to combat obscenity” to ban performances of undesirable artists in Northern Caucasus, reports Saipuddin Guchigov, the head of the “Our Home is the City of Grozny” movement.

Azerbaijani blogger Rashad Ramazanov, who was arrested in a case on drug trafficking and who complained about torture, was sent to a psychiatric hospital for examination. The prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into Rashad Ramazanov’s complaint about torture.