News

An influx of tourists is expected to the Tulip Festival scheduled in the Tselinny District of Kalmykia; all the tickets for the cruise train from Moscow have been sold out; and hotel rooms have been booked, the organizers report. Tourist professionals have noted that because of the pandemic, Kalmykia has favourable conditions for the development of domestic tourism.

The workers engaged in the demolition of dilapidated houses in Nalchik have damaged the nearby house owned by Tamara Tlevasova, a local resident. The house was deliberately damaged in order to later recognize it as an emergency structure and alienate the land plot, Tamara has stated in her complaint addressed to the Public Prosecutor of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Former relatives of Nina Tseretilova, a resident of Makhachkala, have failed yet to fulfil the court's judgement of March 24 that ordered the return her three children to her.

Murad Manapov, an employee of the Navalny's office in Makhachkala, told the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* that at the police station, law enforcers demanded from him to tell about the plans of the office and about his relatives; he received several blows and threats of torture.

At the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), policemen have detained six protesters, who demanded the release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from Azerbaijan.

A video depicting Magomed Gadaev, detained by Chechen law enforcers, as alive and not tortured, only increases fears for his life, say human rights defenders interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Today, in Yerevan, activists have held the “Action of Silence” in front of the UN building. The protestors demand the immediate return of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from Azerbaijan.

A video with Magomed Gadaev, deported from France, disseminated on the evening of April 14 on social media, was filmed in a basement, the man’s smile looks not natural, and he himself is wearing a winter jacket, which does not correspond to the season, users of the social media note.

The Russian authorities avoid examining the evidence of extrajudicial killings in Chechnya, states the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*. The human rights defenders requested the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to oblige Russia to involve international institutions in the investigation and to send a UN working group on enforced disappearances to Northern Caucasus.

In Chechnya, employees of kindergarten are being forced to vaccinate against coronavirus under threat of dismissal, local residents report.

Law enforcers have summoned an advocate to Magomed Gadaev, a Chechen native, who was deported from France; the detainee himself wrote a refusal to use the services of a human rights defender. There were no visible traces of torture on Gadaev's body; and he refused to communicate in private, the advocate, Semyon Tsvetkov, has stated.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya has supported the human rights defenders who demanded to reconsider the refusal to initiate a torture case against Timur Debishev, an actor at the Grozny Theatre, and sent his complaint for a new consideration.

Law enforcers have detained Lipa Israilova, a 65-year-old resident of Urus-Martan, for providing occult services. After a public conversation with Adam Elzhurkaev, a doctor from the Centre of Islamic Medicine, she has partially admitted her guilt, the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) has informed.

In the videos posted in Chechen Instagram publics, Magomed Gadaev claims that he was not tortured or beaten up.

Law enforcers would not allow Murad Manapov, the detained employee of the Navalny's office in Makhachkala, to contact his family and an advocate, and forced him, under pressure, to sign the protocol, the activist said after his release. Manapov intends to appeal against his detention and arrest.

Eldar Gasanov, a detained former Azerbaijani ambassador to Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, needs serious treatment because his health condition threatens his life, his advocates have stated. They called on President Ilham Aliev to help provide treatment to Gasanov and change his freedom restriction measure.

On April 13, Oleg Orlov, a member of the Council of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*, became involved as a public defender in the trial in a case against Ingush activists. The human rights defender represents the defence of Zarifa Sautieva.

After a meeting with an official from the National Security Service of Armenia, relatives of prisoners of war, who demanded to rescue their relatives from the captivity in Azerbaijan, unblocked the administration building in the Shirak Region.

Amid the Armenia’s attempts to return prisoners of war (POWs), the decision to display helmets of killed Armenian soldiers and dummies of military personnel in the War Trophy Park has become a manifestation of the Azerbaijani authorities’ cynicism, note Armenian MPs and the Ombudsmen of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Internet users expressed their doubts that the leader of Chechnya was authorised to speak on behalf of all Muslims when he stated that Alexei Navalny had no right to read the Koran.