News

Adam Delimkhanov, an advisor to the head of Chechnya, and Mansur Soltaev, the Chechen Ombudsperson, have criticized Alexander Zakuskin, a Moscow deputy, for the latter's conflict with an elderly Chechen woman; however, they had reacted completely differently to the kidnapping of Zarema Musaeva by Chechen law enforcers, Instagram users and readers of the "Caucasian Knot" have pointed out.

A resident of the Khasavyurt District, detained on a complaint from a Makhachkala woman about extorting eight million roubles from her, has stated that he was tortured with electric current, by means of which law enforcers tried to obtain a confession from him, Shamil Khadulaev, a member of the Public Chamber of Dagestan, has stated.

Alexander Zakuskin, a Moscow deputy, has admitted, in his conversation with Adam Delimkhanov, a State Duma MP from Chechnya, that he "overdid it" during the incident with an elderly Chechen woman and announced his apology. Delimkhanov, in response to Zakuskin's words about the threats, said that they would not end until the issue was resolved.

On February 11, collective Friday prayers were held in Makhachkala mosques, despite the recommendation of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Supervision in the Field of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) not to hold worship services with believers' crowds.

The Ingush activists convicted within the Magas protest case are studying the case files in order to challenge the verdict, their advocates have informed. Malsag Uzhakhov has new health problems while at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), while Akhmed Barakhoev's chronic illness has worsened, the advocates have added.

At the building of the representative office of the European Union (EU) in Yerevan, several dozen activists of the youth wing of the ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) "Dashnaktsutyun" have held an action, expressing support for political prisoners and urging the EU to pay attention to the human rights situation in Armenia.

Ilham Aliev has signed a law approving the Shusha declaration on alliance with Turkey. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has also approved the document, which includes an agreement on mutual military assistance.

Within a week, the electronic petition addressed to Vladimir Putin and demanding the resignation of the head of Chechnya gained more than 200,000 signatures.

In Chechnya, judges rule under orders received from Ramzan Kadyrov's administration; and there is completely no judiciary in the republic, Saidi Yangulbaev, a retired Russian federal judge, has commented on the refusal of the Chechen Supreme Court (SC) to transfer his wife, Zarema Musaeva, under house arrest.

On Friday (February 11), Azerbaijani militaries shelled residential buildings in the communities of Tagavard and Karmir Shouka (Red Bazaar), in which they damaged windows, roofs and walls; however, the situation in the villages is calm, Gegam Stepanyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson, has informed.

Akhmed Dudaev, the Minister for National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press and Information of Chechnya, has treated the statement about the impending assassination attempt on Vladimir Osechkin as absurd. In his turn, Osechkin thanked the Chechens, who had informed him about the prepared attempt, and invited Adam Delimkhanov to personally discuss the claims against the work of human rights defenders.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has ignored the words of Zarema Musaeva, who asked to place her under house arrest due to her poor health. The arrest of Musaeva, who suffers from severe diabetes, is against Russian law, her son Abubakar Yangulbaev has stated.

About 400 posts with the hashtag # YapekhotinetsKadyrova (“I’m Kadyrov’s infantryman) appeared on Instagram as part of a flash mob launched by an assistant to the leader of Chechnya. The petition for the Ramzan Kadyrov’s resignation has already gained 200,000 signatures.

A public prosecutor requested the court to sentence Salekh Magamadov to 8.5 years and Ismail Isaev to 6.5 years of imprisonment in a case on aiding and abetting a militant. The prosecutors’ version has not been even indirectly confirmed, and there is no evidence that the brothers were familiar with the militant, their advocate notes.

The Armenian military forces shelled the positions of the Azerbaijani army in Kelbadjar, there are no casualties in personnel, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reports.

Relatives did not try to kidnap a native of Dagestan in Moscow, her father said. According to him, the parents did not have conflicts with their daughter, since it was not planned to force her to marry.

The Georgian cities of Gori, Zugdidi and Telavi has hosted protest actions demanding better living conditions, abolition the increase of electricity tariffs and decrease taxes. The Georgian opposition has reproached authorities for their inefficient countering social problems.

The increase in the count of non-combat losses in military units indicates systemic problems in the Armenian Army, while authorities refuse to involve the civil society in protecting militaries' rights, the participants in the discussion held in Yerevan have stated.

The approval of the new law "On Media" has strengthened Azeri authorities' control over media and restrictions on their professional activities, journalists have stated. Their concerns are shared by international structures.

In Chechnya, persecution of people involved in occultism usually resorts to public scolding, while in Ingushetia and North Ossetia there have been no persecutions of fortune-tellers in recent years, lawyers and human rights defenders have pointed out in their comments on the version voiced out by a relative of Rimma Gagloeva, a missing resident of North Ossetia, who was engaged in fortune telling and removing an evil eye.