News

The search and detention of Abubakar Yangulbaev, an employee of the "Committee against Torture" (CaT), for interrogation as a witness fit into the framework of a criminal investigation and do not mean that investigators have claims against him, Timofei Shirokov, a lawyer, has explained.

Ramzan Kadyrov has unreasonably ranked himself among human rights defenders by accepting the medal "Honoured Human Rights Defender of the Chechen Republic", social network users have pointed out. Many of them have noted that the Chechen Ombudsperson had encouraged Kadyrov after the mass kidnappings of relatives of critics of the Chechen leadership.

At night on January 1, parents of the Armenian soldiers captured as prisoners of war (POWs) during the Karabakh war held a sit-in picket outside the government building in Yerevan, demanding the release of their sons. There was no authorities' response to their action.

The mass hunger strike demanding the release of the former president of Georgia was stopped after Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili threatened to join his supporters' protest action, the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party has informed.

A court in Baku has ruled to toughen the punishment for the blogger, Aslan Gurbanov, by transferring him from a colony to a prison for two years. Gurbanov, convicted of publications in support of Talysh nationals, should be released, Rufat Safarov, a human rights defender, and Khilal Mamedov, a Talysh activist, have stated.

In Yerevan, oppositionists held an action in support of Ashot Minasyan, a veteran of the three Karabakh wars. Investigators have stopped prosecuting Minasyan under articles on plotting an attempt on the life of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and on an attempt to usurp power, leaving only the charges of illegal weapons possession, the protesters have noted.

Western countries express their regret about the decision of the Russian Supreme Court (SC) to ban the International Historical and Educational Society "Memorial", as well as of the ruling of the Moscow City Court (MCC) to liquidate the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*.

The Chechen Ombudsperson announced Ramzan Kadyrov and his parents to be honoured human rights defenders. The leader of Chechnya received a medal for protecting human rights amid the reports about mass kidnappings of relatives of the persons who criticized the authorities of the republic.

Out of the fourteen prisoners pardoned by Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia, on the eve of the New Year holidays, nine have got the opportunity to leave prison today, while the terms of punishment have been mitigated for the other convicts.

An anti-tank mine exploded in the Agdam District of Azerbaijan during the works on the ground, and an excavator driver was not injured, the Prosecutor’s Office reported.

According to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Russian law on foreign agents contradicts the international legal standards, and the decision to close the “International Memorial”* has become excessive punishment for administrative violations.

The authorities of South Ossetia have released two Georgian citizens, the Georgian State Security Service reports.

On December 30, about 50 members of the Chechen Diaspora held a protest in Oslo, calling on the authorities to seek sanctions against Ramzan Kadyrov and Vladimir Putin in connection with kidnappings in Chechnya and liquidation of the "Memorials"*.

After the advocates' petition, the court has appointed a forensic medical examination of Salekh Rustamov's health; its results will be used when considering the motion on his early release.

When adopting the law "On Media", journalists' demands were ignored; and now both their rights and those of social network users are sharply restricted; and almost any post, video clip or opinion can be treated as a violation of the law, members of the journalistic community have stated.

A total of 111 families of forced migrants from Gadrut and Shushi have received apartments in newly built houses in Stepanakert; overall, authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh are planning to build 6500 apartments and individual houses for the families of forced migrants. In December, apartments were granted to the families who lost their members at war or occurred in a difficult social situation.

Human rights defenders have asked the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to check the legality of the so-called "prophylactic registration" practised in Dagestan, in particular, in relation to Vazir Bazanaev, a local resident. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* has called on the GPO to bring to justice the officials of the Dagestani Prosecutor's Office, who failed to properly consider the appeals on this matter.

Chechen natives Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev have been refusing food in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) for the tenth day already, demanding to change the territorial jurisdiction of their case, but no warders of the SIZO have ever visited them. This was announced by a representative of the “SK SOS” Crisis Group.

The kidnapping of relatives of Chechen activists, well-known for criticizing the authorities of Chechnya, became possible because of Ramzan Kadyrov’s confidence that such actions would remain unpunished for him, human rights defenders and activists note.

In Armenia, Arman Khachatryan, one of the five Armenian soldiers returned by Azerbaijan on December 29, was detained on suspicion of violating the rules of military service.