News

During the week from December 6 to December 12, 2021, during the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, there was no information about any casualties or wounded persons. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

After a long hunger strike, Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili needs rehabilitation at a neurological centre, but there are no hospitals of the required level in Georgia, the doctors have concluded, recommending that the politician be transferred to a foreign clinic. Saakashvili himself refused to leave Georgia.

Support by MPs in the regions of Southern Russia of a bill on QR codes amid protests; armed incidents near the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan; resonance from the Sokurov’s statements on the problems of Northern Caucasus; Geneva Discussions on the situation in Southern Caucasus; revocation of parliamentary powers of an activist in Yeisk, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 6-12, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Georgian authorities demand to release the man detained near the village of Zemo Nikozi located on the border with South Ossetia, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) has stated.

Salekh Rustamov, an Azerbaijani activist, who is on a hunger strike in jail, is injected with nutrients intravenously, but this will not replace adequate nutrition, especially amid his suffered stress, his age and diseases, Adil Geibulla, a doctor, has stated.

In the Martuni District, Karabakh rescuers have found remains of an Armenian military serviceman. Thus, the total number of bodies and remains found in the conflict zone after the hostilities in November 2020 has reached 1704, the Nagorno-Karabakh's Emergency Service has informed.

Azerbaijani authorities must release Salekh Rustamov, who is on his hunger strike in jail and who is close to death, the US State Department has stated. It is necessary to reconsider the case of Rustamov and those of other political prisoners, the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Azerbaijan have stated.

Eleven people were detained in Baku during an action in support of Salekh Rustamov, the police used excessive force.

Three men have been arrested on charges of abducting a woman from Karabudakhkent, who refused to marry one of them. The case has been sent to the court, the Dagestani Prosecutor's Office has informed.

The transport corridor connecting Baku with Nakhichevan is beneficial not only for Azerbaijan, it will also improve Armenia's communication with Iran and Russia, the economists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

On December 13, the Documentary Film Centre in Moscow will screen the film "This Happens Here" about the practice of female genital mutilation in Northern Caucasus. The authors of the film are journalists Svetlana Anokhina and Vladimir Sevrinovsky. This will be the first screening of the film in a movie theatre, Oksana Serbinova, the creative producer of the film, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

By means of military conflicts on the border, Azerbaijan is trying to increase pressure on Yerevan, the Armenian analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. The escalation on the eve of the meeting at the Eastern Partnership summit is beneficial to Armenia, as it can change the agenda of the meeting, the Azerbaijani political observer believes.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has criticized the film director, Alexander Sokurov, for his proposal to President Vladimir Putin to allow some regions of Northern Caucasus to separate from Russia, and urged to check his proposal for extremism.

Ronald Airapetyan, an activist, has explained his flight from the Krasnodar Territory to the Netherlands by the earlier committed kidnapping and the threats he had received because of his oppositional activities.

On December 10, the administration of the municipality of the city of Korfez in the Turkish Province of Kocaeli solemnly opened a park named after the first president of Ichkeria, Djokhar Dudaev. The official ceremony was attended by about three hundred members of the North-Caucasian Diaspora and Caucasian public organizations; delegates of the Chechen Diasporas in Europe were among the visitors, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

The court has sentenced Alikhan Adjamatov, a native of Dagestan, accused of assisting in terrorist activities, to 17 years in prison. This is too severe, given that Adjamatov's guilt has not been proved, his advocates assert.

Khadizhat Kadyrova, the 21-year-old Ramzan Kadyrov's daughter, the head of the Department of Preschool Education of Grozny, was awarded the medal "For Merits to the Chechen Republic".

The Elista City Court has fined Batyr Boromangnaev, the chairman of the Kalmyk branch of the "Yabloko" Party, by 30,000 roubles for his post in social networks about "Putin's Russia". The court found that the oppositionist's statements are offending the honour and dignity of the Russian president. Boromangnaev intends to appeal against this decision.

On the 35th day of his hunger strike, Salekh Rustamov stopped believing in the results of the protest action, but still intends to continue it, his advocate reports.

During the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, has noted that cases on torture of convicts and persons under investigation in Russia should be considered by an international tribunal.