News

The switch to a single-level model of self-government is unfit for the republics of Northern Caucasus, as it breaks the established political alignments. However, even in the event of a transition to a new model, the negative effect for the republics of Southern Russia will be less than for other regions.

During searching Muslims’ homes, law enforcers planted SIM cards; the cases of taking part in a terrorist organization were fabricated, the Muslims’ relatives have stated in their complaint addressed to human rights defenders. In total, 48 people were detained during the law enforcers' operation conducted in the city of Nalchik and the village of Nartan, human rights defenders have reported.

Nato Bolkvadze, a Tax Service Department analyst, was dismissed from her job after participating in protests against the suspension of the Georgia’s European integration. Nato Bolkvadze treats her dismissal as violation of her rights and intends to appeal against it.

The cassation court has reduced the sentence for Mikhail Muzraev, convicted in the case on the arson of the house of the Volgograd Region Governor, from 20 years to 18.5 years of imprisonment. The sentence of the second defendant has been left unchanged.

In the Stavropol Territory, a court sentenced four young men accused of desecrating a symbol of military glory in the village of Grushevskoye.

During his visit to Sukhum, Otari Kobakhidze, a Russian citizen, filmed a video clip, in which he stated that he had returned to his homeland after 33 years. This caused a negative reaction in the Abkhaz society, after which special services detained the man and escorted him out of the country.

Authorities are delaying the liquidation of the environmental disaster without addressing the root cause thereof, Anapa residents have stated in their video appeal addressed to federal authorities, demanding to speed up the pumping out of oil products and lifting the sunken parts of the tankers.

If the incident is officially recognized as a terror act, compensation for the cars damaged in the explosion in Stavropol, in which Zaur Gurtsiev was killed, is available only to CASCO insurance owners.

Dokku Djantemirov, who serves his life sentence in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, has asked to be transferred to a penal colony in the territory of Chechnya, where his relatives live.

As part of the reform of local government in Chechnya, 17 municipal districts will be created, and the urban districts of Grozny and Argun will also be preserved, the Chechen Ministry of Finance reports. Social media users suggest that the reform will result in job cuts and difficulties for citizens in obtaining official documents.

Kazbek Mamikov, a participant in the march in Nalchik held to mark the end of the Caucasian War, who served his administrative arrest, has decided not to appeal against the court’s decision, while two other participants in the march have succeeded in their appeals to reduce their arrest terms. There were no arrests in Maikop, but two activists had to write explanatory notes.

While congratulating Georgian policemen on their professional holiday, Irakli Kobakhidze, the country’s Premier, has stated that within the last four years, law enforcers have prevented four attempts to encroach on Georgia’s sovereignty and a coup d'etat.

Amid the huge spill of fuel oil (mazut) in the Black Sea, the hotel occupancy rate in the Russian city of Anapa has decreased by 50% compared to the same last year’s period. Some hotels are in dire straits because they cannot return money to tourists for cancelled bookings, said a source from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).

The arrest of Rufat Safarov, an Azeri human rights defender, accused of fraud, has been extended for other 20 days.

The insults to the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (AAHC) and interference into its activities by the Prime Minister of Armenia are unacceptable, politicians and churchmen have stated, demanding an apology. The "Ayakve" Initiative has demanded that a criminal case be opened against Nikol Pashinyan.

A memorial plaque to the memory of victims of repressions has been removed from the building of the former NKVD department in Taganrog on the bottom-level initiative. Such actions are a continuation of the trend of hushing up repressions and glorifying Stalin, historians and political analysts point out.

Human rights defender Igor Nagavkin has filed an appeal to the supervisory authorities with a request to assess the insults he was subjected to by the deputy head of the penal colony-settlement.

In Sochi, a man with a hammer tried to enter the synagogue building and threw stones at it. The attacker has been detained.

Taking into account his statement about the “Gunib” sanatorium, Sergey Melikov, the leader of Dagestan, has not touched on the topic of the urban development in Gunib, which has been going on for more than one year. The accusations of activists from the “Gorod Nash” (The City is Ours) movement in disseminating enemy information are groundless.

Law enforcers publicly reprimanded teenage drivers from the Gudermes District of Chechnya for violating traffic rules. Social media users have recalled that Adam Kadyrov, a son of the leader of Chechnya, drives a car, although he is also under 18.