News

Over the past 24 hours, employees of the Karabakh Emergency Service removed the bodies of 14 Armenian military servicemen from the conflict zone; in total, 1061 dead have been found after the ceasefire.

An equestrian march to the grave of Abdullakh Anzorov, who had beheaded a Paris teacher, has shown that some residents of Chechnya treat his crime as a battle for faith in the modern interpretation, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Mariam Alieva, whose Instagram blog was blocked by the social network after her post about a paedophilia suspect, is taking measures to restore her account. Alieva has many ill-wishers, as her posts cover the problems usually hushed up in the Caucasus, Svetlana Anokhina, a journalist, believes.

About ten residents of Ingushetia came to the building of the Essentuki City Court to support the leaders of the Ingush protest. Among them were activists who had already served their sentences in the case on the rally in Magas.

In Yerevan, a mass clash took place on Republic Square between the police and the protestors who demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The protesters tried to set up a tent camp. They announced the beginning of an indefinite protest action in front of the government building.

In Rostov-on-Don, a court found Aslan Daudov, a resident of Chechnya, guilty of hostage-taking, terrorism, and premeditated killing during the 1995 attack by Shamil Basaev's grouping on Budyonnovsk. The defendant was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony.

Today, residents of Armenia, who demand the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan, have blocked the motorways from Vanadzor to Yerevan, from Ijevan to Yerevan, and from Vanadzor to Dilijan. In Yerevan, opposition supporters held a rally in front of the government building. The opposition called on residents of the country to take part in the nationwide strike.

The Southern District Military Court found Imanat Razokhanova, a 25-year-old native of Dagestan, guilty of aiding and abetting in terrorist activities and sentenced her to 3 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

The killing by law enforcers of Kazbek Baidulaev, who had already been declared killed earlier, could be an imitation, representatives of the 1Adat Telegram Channel suggest. The photo from the place of the special operation released by the law enforcement bodies gives reason to doubt the version of the Kazbek Baidulaev's death, a criminal law expert confirms.

The Farniev family council has accused the journalist, Zaur Farniev, of violating the principles of agdau – the Ossetians' unwritten set of ethical rules – for publishing the news about an accident involving the brother of the head of North Ossetia. The Ossetians had no such a tradition of condemnation, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

International organizations should follow the progress of the investigation of war crimes committed in the Karabakh conflict zone by all parties, the Azerbaijani human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

On the 50th day of his hunger strike, Afghan Sadygov, an Azerbaijani journalist, has stopped talking but refuses to stop his protest, his wife said.

On December 21, eight people went out to solo pickets in Makhachkala demanding to release Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a journalist of the "Chernovik" (Daft) newspaper accused of financing terrorism.

Six persons still stay at a children's camp in the Kaitag District, and in total, about 350 Azerbaijani citizens wait in Dagestan for their return to their homeland. A group of 250 Azerbaijanis managed to leave for home before the border closure.

In Tskhinvali, relatives of deceased Inal Djabiev have been protesting for 18 days. They demand to punish the persons responsible for his death. The authorities broke the promise to report to the relatives of the deceased man the progress of the investigation, stated a widow of Inal Djabiev. Meanwhile, the police reported on the detention of an Inal Djabiev's brother.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, 11 residents of the Leskensky District did not create any extremist community, their advocates insist. The court agreed with the motion filed by investigators and extended the arrests of all the defendants for other three months.

After watching a TV report of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) about clients of a witch, Instagram users write in their comments that those who provide occult services are usually addressed by women, while such acts are humiliating for Chechen men.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that it is unacceptable to disperse protesters on the day of mourning and returned to Yerevan without visiting the main cities of Syunik Region.

Return of refugees, three days of mourning for the deceased, and the beginning of the exchange of prisoners of war in the Karabakh conflict zone; two armed incidents in Chechnya; round-the-clock protest action in Tskhinvali, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 14-20, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The police are trying to unblock the motorway in the Syunik Region of Armenia, which was blocked by local residents on the eve of the arrival of the Armenian Prime Minister. Nikol Pashinyan himself, who has already left for the Syunik Region, voiced his willingness for dialogue with the protesters.