News

The health state of Russian citizen Salekh Rustamov, who has been on hunger strike for the tenth day in an Azerbaijani prison hospital, is close to critical, his advocate claims. Relatives convinced Salekh Rustamov not to stop drinking water, as he is extremely exhausted.

During the week of November 8-14, 2021, no killed or wounded in the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the “Caucasian Knot” based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

According to a petition signed by 65 members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the activities of the “Memorial”* to preserve the memory of victims of repression is superior to the results of public research institutions and the liquidation of the “Memorial”* cannot be allowed. A similar petition was signed by over 100 artists, politicians, and human rights defenders.

The search for the bodies of those killed in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan after the war has not been carried out since October 18, the State Emergency Service of Nagorno-Karabakh reports.

While explaining the refusal to bring Mikhail Saakashvili to a Tbilisi court, the penitentiary service claimed that the presence of the politician at the trial in his case would create additional risks to his health.

Law enforcers did not let colleagues of journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev hold a picket and took Magomed Magomedov, the deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly “Chernovik” (Rough Draft), to the Makhachkala police department. This was reported by journalist Idris Yusupov.

A Baku court has found Agil Gumbatov, a member of the oppositional Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), guilty of hooliganism and sentenced him to 10 years of freedom deprivation.

Natives of Chechnya and a citizen of Ukraine have organized illegal transportation of migrants from Middle East to Germany via Poland, the Polish Prosecutor's Office (PO) has informed.

The protest against the works of strengthening the Chechen bank of the Fortanga River was organized in Ingushetia by "a handful of provocateurs," Ramzan Kadyrov has stated. In their turn, his critics believe that Chechen authorities should have warned the Ingush party of the planned works in order to avoid unrests in the neighbouring republic.

The authors of the petition call on the civil society to unite in defence of the "International Memorial"* and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* and prevent the closure of these organizations. Facebook users have responded to the call to support human rights defenders and publish their posts with the hashtag #WeMemorial.

An Azerbaijani customs post has been set up on the Kapan-Chakaten road. Residents of six villages of the Syunik Region must cross the border or take a 150-kilometre-long detour. Villagers may face problems with movement and buying foodstuffs, said the head of the Chakaten community. Azerbaijani militaries' actions have violated villagers' rights, the Armenian Ombudsperson has stated.

The "Sirtskhvili" (means "It's Shame") movement has held a rally near the Georgian parliament building with a demand to transfer Mikhail Saakashvili to a civil clinic and hold early elections.

Publication of video evidence of violence and torture against natives of the Caucasus in the Saratov prison hospital; anniversary of the end of the “autumn war” in Nagorno-Karabakh and new armed incidents in the conflict zone; protests by Saakashvili’s supporters in Georgia; debate at the trial against leaders of the Ingush protest; conflict at the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia provoked by the changed channel of the Fortanga River, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of November 8-14, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The situation on the eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where the shootout took place on November 14, has stabilized, the parties are negotiating, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

On November 13, a ceremony of opening a monument to victims of political repressions was held in the Reduktorny dwelling settlement of Makhachkala. The monument looks like a heart split in two parts, installed on a pedestal. The halves of the heart are in different colours – black and white. According to the authors' idea, it symbolizes the light and dark sides of the life.

Salekh Rustamov, an activist, who has been on hunger strike for eight days, is risking his life, but will not back down if his demands for release are not met, human rights defenders assert. They called on the head of Azerbaijan to help in releasing the activist.

The work of the "Chechenavtodor" (the Chechen Highway Ministry) performed on the bank of the Fortanga River could in no way affect the border line with Ingushetia, Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, has stated. He was supported by users of the Chechen segment of the Instagram, who have criticized Ingushes for artificially escalating the conflict.

A former district policeman of the Prikubansky ROVD (District Interior Division) of the Branch for the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has been sentenced to four year of conditional imprisonment for beating up a local resident.

As a result of a grenade explosion near Shusha (the Armenian name is Shushi), Khafiz Nasibov, an additional service sergeant of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, and two other military servicemen were wounded, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) have reported, treating the incident as a terror act.

About 20 Georgian NGOs have appealed to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe (CoE) with a joint statement, in which they demand to ensure the observance of the rights of Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili, a former Georgian President.