News

A court in Azerbaijan granted a request for conditional early relief for Shiite theologian Elshan Mustafaoglu, who was serving his sentence in a case on espionage for Iran. Theologian has been released from custody.

Minister of Culture of Chechnya Aishat Kadyrova received the highest award of the republic because of her family ties, Instagram* users suggested in their comments under a post reporting that the daughter of the leader of Chechnya was awarded the Order of Kadyrov.

A court in Rostov-on-Don has imposed a fine of 30,000 roubles on Natalia Bondareva, an activist, finding her guilty of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces after her pacifist picket.

The prosecution has failed to prove that Shamil Isaev, accused of killing Khadjimurad Kamalov, the founder of the "Chernovik" (Draft) outlet, had a motive to commit the crime, the defendant's advocate has stated at trial. The state prosecutor has ignored all the defence's proofs, including the alibis of three defendants, the advocates have stated.

In Freedom Square in Sukhumi, Abkhaz residents have held a rally in support of the hunger-striking Djansukh Adleiba and demanded to meeting Alexander Ankvab, the republic's Prime Minister. The increase in gasoline diesel fuel prices is caused by a similar increase in prices in Russia, Mr Ankvab said after coming out to protesters. In his turn, Adleiba refused to end his hunger strike, as Ankvab failed to convince him.

The preparation in France of an assassination attempt on Mukhammed Mirzali, an oppositional Azerbaijani blogger, was another attempt to intimidate the authorities' critics living abroad, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" are sure.

The scandal with the publication of the recording of the conversation of the leaders of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has occurred amid the failure to reform the Armenian judicial and legal system, human rights defenders have stated.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has considered the complaint against the ruling of the first instance court to extend the arrest of Zarema Musaeva until July 12, and refused to satisfy it, Dmitry Kazakov, a lawyer for the "Team against Torture", has informed.

On the 20th day of his hunger strike, Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the “Muslim Unity” Movement, stopped the protest action and called on his supporters to do the same.

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has partially granted a cassation appeal of Azerbaijani blogger Aslan Gurbanov by reducing his term in Gobustan prison from two years to one year.

During World War II, Stalin made decisions to deport the Caucasian peoples despite the Soviet propaganda of internationalism, and in the regions where the deportees were sent, the Soviet authorities deliberately marginalized people from the Caucasus, historians interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" say.

Relatives of eight Chechen policemen perished in Ukraine have been handed over the Orders of Courage, Ramzan Kadyrov reports.

Ali Aliev, the chair of the “Citizens and Development” Party, was sentenced to six months of imprisonment on a complaint about insulting honour and dignity. As a result, the activist’s total prison term in three criminal cases was increased to a year. The defence plans to file an appeal against the court’s decision.

The Stavropol Territorial Court has left Akhmed Pogorov, a co-chairman of the World Congress of Ingush People, in custody until September 25. The judge would not listen to his defence's arguments that he suffers from the coronary heart disease.

Unidentified persons have left a threatening inscription on the apartment door of Sergey Medvedev, a Volgograd pacifist; law enforcers have questioned his neighbours.

Vidadi Iskenderov, an Azeri human rights defender and an immigrant living in France, was detained after an attack on him. The French prosecutor's office found out that he had used cold arms in self-defence, recognized him as a victim and released him; the police took Iskenderov under protection.

For the first time during her presidency, the Georgian President, Salome Zurabishvili, has used her veto power on the wiretapping bill. She believes that the proposed amendments are still further restricting human rights.

The state prosecutor has asked the court to sentence one of the figurants in the murder case of Khadjimurad Kamalov, the editor-in-chief of the "Chernovik" (Draft) portal to 15 years in prison, and the three other defendants – to life imprisonment.

A conversion of a part of the "Erzi" Nature Reserve into the "Daimokhk" National Park will allow erecting economic facilities in its lands, which could turn into an environmental disaster, experts have commented on the idea of creating a national park on the Chechen-Ingush border.

A public prosecutor requested court to sentence Pyunkhan Kerimli, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), to seven and a half years of imprisonment on charge of drug trafficking. The defence stated that there was no reliable evidence of the Pyunkhan Kerimli’s guilt and requested court to acquit the defendant.