News

Starting October 11, a QR code or a vaccination certificate will be required in order to enter organizations and public places in Chechnya. The unvaccinated elderly people who have not recovered from coronavirus will be allowed to visit only medical facilities.

Fuad Akhmedli, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has been sentenced to 30 days of arrest on charges of petty hooliganism. He and five other activists were detained on October 8 near the building of the Baku Court for Grave Crimes, where the verdict was expected to be announced to Niyameddin Akhmedov, another PFPA member.

Aram Tepnants, a resident of the Martakert District, died after being shot by a sniper from the Azerbaijani Army, the Nagorno-Karabakh police have informed.

A Baku court has sentenced Niyameddin Akhmedov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) to 13 years in prison. Akhmedov himself has denied all the accusations, treating them as unjustified, and declared the continuation of his hunger strike.

The NGOs "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" (GYLA) and "International Transparency-Georgia", and the "Droa" and "Lelo" Parties have demanded to recount the votes at the elections held in Tbilisi. The falsifications at these elections were designed to prevent the opposition from forming a majority in the Sakrebulo, Elene Khoshtariya, the "Droa" leader, has stated.

During the war, refugee families lost all their property; authorities are partially compensating their rental expenses, former residents of the city of the Gadrut District have informed. A total of 1365 refugee families from the Gadrut District now live in Nagorno-Karabakh.

At her 22, Aishat Kadyrova, the eldest daughter of the head of Chechnya, received the post of the republic's Minister of Culture.

The coronavirus immunization campaign, which in Chechnya has been accompanied by harsh coercion to vaccinate, has led to a wide spread of fake vaccination certificates, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* reported.

Investigators detained a woman from the Babayurt District of Dagestan, who was raising money under the pretext of transporting children from the Middle East.

Rubati Mitsaeva, a former member of the government of self-proclaimed republic of Ichkeria, explained her desire to return to Chechnya. Rubati Mitsaeva claims she wants to live in her homeland among her relatives and said that she had stopped engaging in politics. Ramzan Kadyrov may benefit from the Rubati Mitsaeva’s return to the republic, Alexei Malashenko believes.

Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “efforts to defend freedom of expression.”

On October 7, the Swedish authorities informed the Chechen blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, that they had approved the awarding him with the status of a political refugee.

A car driver hit a transgender woman in Tbilisi and fled the scene. The victim claims that the attack was deliberate; and the police opened an inquiry.

In Chechnya, law enforcers have visited the house of the parents of Magomed Alamov, the head of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT) in Northern Caucasus, and asked about his whereabouts. Such law enforcers' visits may turn into fabrication of a criminal case, Alamov fears.

The upcoming population census will give Russian Circassians a chance to get registered as a single nation; and a promotion of the idea in social networks will play a big role therein, NGO activists believe. The idea of becoming a consolidated nation is popular among Circassians; therefore, most of them will take advantage of this opportunity, Caucasian scholars are sure.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged Russian authorities to pay 20,000 euros to relatives of Gelani Tsechoev, a resident of Ingushetia, who was killed in 2010, by recognizing a violation of his right to life.

Law enforcers put pressure on a secret witness in a case on the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya: they threatened him with criminal prosecution and demanded from him to testify as requested by investigators, the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” reported on the 15th anniversary of the murder of the journalist.

In Baku, a policeman used force during the detention of Bakhtiyar Gadjiev and then at a police station, the activist himself claims. A “preventive conversation” was held with Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan announced its version.

According to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the arrest of Azerbaijani oppositionists Ulvi Gasanov and Medjid Medjidli for distributing anti-government leaflets violated their rights to liberty and security of person. The ECtHR obliged the Azerbaijan’s authorities to pay each of the arrested activists 5850 euros.

The case on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya is being investigated under an article that provides for capital punishment, and the practice of a 15-year statute of limitations is extremely rarely applied in such cases, lawyers note. According to them, the resonant murder of the journalist is not an exceptional case.