News

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.

Sevindj Vagifgyzy, the editor-in-chief of the “Abzas Media”, who was arrested in Baku, claimed that she again faced physical violence and discrimination from warders.

The journalists’ community of Dagestan has long sought to open a monument in Makhachkala to pay tribute to media workers who perished while performing their professional duties.

Zarema Musaeva, who is being kept at a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Grozny, has experienced worsening knee pain.

European organizations of journalists have issued an appeal to the authorities of Georgia calling them on to stop persecuting Mziya Amaglobeli, the founder of the “Netgazeti” and “Batumelebi”online publications, and to investigate the brutal treatment to which she had been subjected.

Magomedgadji Chirgilaev and Yasin Gadjiev, figurants in the case of the riots at Makhachkala Airport, have reported that they had been beaten up to force them to incriminate themselves.

Students and teachers from two higher schools have marched through the streets of Tbilisi demanding the release of those detained during protests.