News

Five residents of Dagestan have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 8 years 6 months to 8 years 8 months in a penal colony in a case on the riots at an airport in Makhachkala.

The court ruling, which awarded Madin Gubzhokov compensation of 30,000 roubles for unlawful criminal prosecution, is incomparable with the moral harm caused by the actions of Azamat Kyaov, a former law enforcer. The amount is ridiculous and should be appealed against, lawyers and human rights defenders have stated.

The Georgian Government has decided to award the Order of Honour to eleven high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). Human rights defenders have pointed out that on November 28, MIA's employees had held a deliberate dispersal of the protest; and one of the awardees was involved in the abuse of detainees.

The authorities of Dagestan did not respond to requests from relatives of the people convicted and accused in the case on riots at an airport in Makhachkala, so they had to appeal to the leader of Chechnya for help. Analysts believe that Ramzan Kadyrov refused the meeting due to his unwillingness to conflict with Sergey Melikov and to be known as the defender of the pogrom participants.

In the city of Baksan, volunteers of the "Alternativa" Movement have managed to free a man from labour slavery, who had been held by a gypsy family for about four months. Labour slavery is not typical for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR); only individual cases are reported, analysts believe.

The intensity of protests in Georgia is influenced by both the decisions of the authorities and the onset of cold weather and the approach of the New Year holidays. Given that protesters have been holding daily protest actions for 21 days already, another surge in activity can be expected on the day of the inauguration of the new president of Georgia.

Mansur Soltaev, the Chechen Ombudsperson, has petitioned the court for state protection for the family of Roman Murdiev, because they are receiving many threats.

The murder case of Magomed-Ali Sultanov, the 19-year-old resident of Kayakent, has been suspended, since the only accused person signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and asked to be sent to the special military operation (SMO) zone in Ukraine.

Relatives of those accused and convicted within the case of riots at Makhachkala Airport intended to ask for help from the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, but were unable to get an appointment with him. At a meeting with the Dagestani Ombudsperson, they wrote a letter to Sergey Melikov (the head of Dagestan) and threatened protests in case of no reaction.

Thirteen Georgian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have called on country’s citizens to report about crimes and repressions amid the failure of public institutions to act under the law.

Options for cooperation with Syria were voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov as part of a PR campaign by the Russian authorities, who are trying to save face after the fall of the Assad regime, analysts note.

In Chechnya, law enforcers have detained two relatives of the activist who has criticized the republic's authorities.

A court in Chechnya has sent Zarema Musaeva into custody within a new criminal case of disrupting the activities of a penal colony. A human rights defender has linked the new case to a social media post placed by one of Musaeva's sons.

Since the start of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, over 51,000 fighters have been sent from Chechnya, including 20,400 volunteers. About 10,000 fighters from Chechnya are in the combat zone, Ramzan Kadyrov has reported on the departure of a new group from the Grozny Airport.

The ban on wearing masks at protest actions violates freedom of expression and the Constitution of Georgia. Many demonstrators wear masks for fear of reprisals, and increasing fines for violating the ban is aimed at intimidating protesters, public organizations emphasize.

Zarema Musaeva suffers from pain in her legs, but she does not receive medical treatment in a hospital. Human rights defenders believe that the new case on disorganization of the activities of the penal colony is not related to the motion for conditional early relief (CER) for Zarema Musaeva.

As soon as he returns to Makhachkala, Dagestani activist Isalmagomed Nabiev plans to visit the FSB Department, where he was summoned because of signing an appeal in defence of detained Ramazan Rabadanov. The activist suggests that the summoning is a method of pressure.

Telegram channels are spreading defamatory information about the family of Anna Tsomartova, a missing athlete from North Ossetia; the check of this fact has been ongoing for the second month, Anna's father has stated.

A trial has been launched in the town of Uryupinsk against Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, who is serving his term at a penal colony there. According to Valentin Bogdan, also a human rights defender, the colony bosses have grossly violated the law by leaving Nagavkin in the dungeon (punishment cell) for two consecutive terms.

The court has awarded Zainulabidin Mirzabekov, a Makhachkala resident, with compensation in the amount of 11 million roubles for his illegal criminal prosecution and eight years he spent behind bars. Mirzabekov, who had claimed 414 million roubles, intends to appeal against the court ruling.