News

Kairbek Bakiev and Ilkhan Kanmurzaev, natives of the Stavropol Territory, have been detained on suspicion of taking part in the attack of Basaev's and Khattab's grouping on Dagestan in 1999, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported.

The natives of Chechnya living in Europe, except for a few persons, may return to their homeland, like Rubati Mitsaeva, a former supporter of Akhmed Zakaev, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated.

Opposition protest action in Sukhumi; kidnapping of relatives of Ramzan Kadyrov’s critics in Chechnya; mass hunger strike of Mikhail Saakashvili’s supporters in Tbilisi; criminal case against the Mayor of Krasnodar, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 20-26, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The information about the mass kidnappings of relatives in Chechnya is being spread by the bloggers who are trying to slander the authorities, and who support terrorism, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated.

The situation with torture of detainees in Kuban (the Krasnodar Territory is named in this way by the name of the main river) stands out among other Russian regions; this practice has become systemic there, human rights defenders have stated in their comments on the pre-mortal statement of Evgeny Ipatov, a Sochi resident, about his torture at a law enforcement structure.

A resident of Chechnya has filmed a video with a crooked New Year Tree and posted it on the TikTok; later, he had to apologize for his joke treating it as an unworthy deed.

Some of the kidnapped relatives of Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), have returned home. The resonance triggered in the media by their kidnapping has affected their fate, Abubakar Yangulbaev believes.

The capital of Georgia is hosting a mass hunger strike of supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili, a former President of Georgia. It total, there are 150 hunger-strikers; and yesterday, three of them stopped their protest action following doctors' recommendation. Over the past 24 hours, several hunger-strikers had increased blood tension; and doctors rendered medical help to them.

Aishat Kadyrova, the head of the Chechen Ministry of Culture, has received a medal "For the Protection of Human Rights", the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) reported on December 25. However, the Kadyrova's Instagram page contains no human rights statements, including no comments on kidnappings of relatives of her father's critics.

A total of 37 relatives have been kidnapped by Chechen law enforcers and kept for two days at ROVDs (District Interior Divisions), Abubakar Yangulbaev, a rights defender from the Committee against Torture (CaT) has informed.

Children with type one diabetes began receiving sensors for flash monitoring systems only after the intervention of Sergey Melikov, said Magomed Beibulatov, the father of a child with diabetes. Instagram users were outraged by the fact that involvement of the region head is needed to solve such problems.

With the support of law enforcers, local authorities have sealed up the popular nightclubs "Bassiani", "Khidi" and "Mtkvarze" in Tbilisi for violating the anti-covid restrictions. The club owners and their supporters tried to hamper the officials' actions, which led to clashes with policemen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed Mikhail Mishustin, the country's Prime Minister, to deal with the problems in Dagestan with the supplies of water, gas and electricity. After the instruction, the situation with long-standing problems will probably get off the ground, residents of Dagestan have suggested on the Instagram.

The Yessentuki City Court has extended the custody of Akhmed Pogorov, a co-chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, until February 25, 2022. His defence has treated the ruling as unjustified and will appeal against it.

Mansur Sadulaev, the founder of the "Vayfond" Association that is in opposition to Kadyrov, has stated that during the last year he significantly reduced his activeness in social networks, but Chechen law enforcers have still kidnapped his maternal relatives.

The Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia has declared unconstitutional the provision of the order issued by the Ministry of Public Health (MPH), which obliges unvaccinated employees to pay for PCR tests.

Aslan Artsuev, the director of the organization "Human Rights Centre Ichkeria", has stated that Chechen authorities are trying to exert pressure on him by kidnapping four relatives, but this won't affect his political position and actions.

On December 24, central Tbilisi hosted a march demanding to release until the trial all those arrested within the case of beating up journalists at a protest against the gay parade.

Chechen Press and Information Minister Akhmed Dudaev has insulted critics of the authorities for lack of respect for Ramzan Kadyrov and his followers. Thus, he has ignored the President Putin’s statement about the unacceptability of settling scores.

Today, a mother and a sister of a Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov’s wife have been kidnapped in Astrakhan, and three of earlier kidnapped relatives are also being held hostage in Chechnya, the blogger reports.