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Alexei Navalny has no right to mention and read the Koran, Ramzan Kadyrov said after learning about the oppositionist's request to provide him with the Koran for reading, and on behalf of all Russian Muslims urged the colony staff not to fulfil the prisoner's request.

For the first time since January 2021, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Georgia for the past 24 hours has exceeded a thousand people, said Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health.

In Azerbaijan, 78 persons were detained and sentenced to terms from 12 to 20 years in prison under the so-called "Terter case", the World Organisation Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture - OMCT) has reported. The detainees were tortured; there are 11 confirmed deaths from torture, human rights defenders have claimed.

The relatives of the prisoners of war (POWs), who block the entrance to the administration of the Shirak Region, demand from the authorities to announce the actions taken to free their relatives from captivity. The efforts to return POWs from Azerbaijan are not advertised, so as not to harm the POWs themselves, Nina Karapetyants, a human rights defender, and Naira Zograbyan, an MP, have noted.

The Georgian Court of Appeal (CoA) has approved the construction of a mosque in Batumi, having found the Mayoralty's refusal to sanction the construction as discrimination against believers.

Eduard Ataev, the head of Navalny's office in Makhachkala, who disappeared on April 12, is serving 10 days of his administrative arrest in Khasavyurt. Murad Manapov, his assistant, was arrested for three days and is in a special detention centre, Ruslan Ablyakimov, an activist, has informed. A policeman came to Manapov's home and took away his passport, but said nothing about his whereabouts, his wife said.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to immediately release journalist Elchin Mamed and provide him with adequate medical care and treatment. A mother of the imprisoned journalist called his health state severe.

Magomed Gadaev, deported from France and handed over to Chechen law enforcers in Novy Urengoy, is being kept at a police department of Urus-Martan, but no advocates have been yet allowed to visit him, the “Caucasian Knot” has been informed by Tatiana Lokshina, the associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division.

Relatives of prisoners of war (POWs) and of soldiers missed in action blocked the entrance to the administration of the Shirak Region. They demand a meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia. The problem of POWs remains unresolved despite several meetings with the authorities, the protestors claim.

Relatives of Lezi Artsuev, a native of Chechnya, deported from France to Russia, refused the help of an advocate after it turned out that Lezi Artsuev had been taken to Gudermes, his former defender reported. The advocate associates the decision of the Lezi Artsuev’s relatives with their fear of being deported as well.

In Dagestan, the ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks during the month of Ramadan infringes on the rights of residents, some local residents note on Facebook. However, their opponents consider the ban justified.

The construction of the new "Dolina Vasta" (Vasta Valley) ski resort in Sochi is illegal, the Russian branch of the environmental Greenpeace has stated. The construction of a new ski resort on the lands of the Sochi National Park will lead to the destruction of natural complexes, ecologists assert.

At their solo pickets held in Makhachkala, Magomed Magomedov and Magdi Kamalov, the deputy editor-in-chief and the founder of the "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly edition, accordingly, demanded to set the journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev free and put an end to the practice of unjustified arrests.

The deportation of the Chechen-born Magomed Gadaev to Russia is illegal; his life is in danger, the Assembly of Chechens in Europe has stated blaming Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, for Gadaev's fate.

In the evening on April 12, believers in Southern Russia held collective prayers in mosques in honour of the onset of the holy month of Ramadan.

In Ingushetia, it is shameful to be a divorced woman, and it is not customary to complain about domestic violence, while the teip (family-clannish) structure of the society keeps victims from going to the police and seeking psychological support, the founder of the "ING-Attention" fem group asserts.

Policemen have set up a cordon and would not let protesters against the construction of the hydroelectric power plant (HPP) near the village of Namakhvani, who tried to break through the cordon. One of the women-defenders of the Rioni River Gorge lost consciousness in the clash.

Eduard Ataev, a coordinator of an Alexei Navalny’s office, disappeared after opening an office in Makhachkala. Today, Murad Munapov, an assistant to Eduard Ataev, has also stopped contacting his relatives and friends.

Today, hostages have been taken in a clothing store in Vladikavkaz. The police detained a suspect, who threatened with an explosion, and the hostages were not injured, sources from the law enforcement bodies report.

An advocate and human rights defenders are not aware of the whereabouts of Magomed Gadaev, who was handed over to Chechen law enforcers in Novy Urengoy a day ago, reports today Oleg Orlov, a member of the Council of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*.