News

The liquidation of the "International Memorial"* indicates the suppression of the freedom of speech and a departure from common European values, while the law on foreign agents is being used to narrow the space for independent critical thinking and dialogue. This was stated by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Chairperson and the US Ambassador to Russia.

The draft law “On Media” will further aggravate the repression against freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, protesters say. They demanded to create a working group to represent the civil society in order to re-discuss the draft law.

Six groups of Azerbaijani citizens have been sent home from Dagestan across the land border, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan reports.

In Pyatigorsk, law enforcers detained Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer from the North-Caucasian branch of the “Committee against Torture” (CaT), who reported about kidnapping of relatives in Chechnya. No advocates are allowed to visit Abubakar Yangulbaev, his colleagues say.

When the Supreme Court of Russia pronounced a decision to liquidate the “International Memorial”* (the International Historical, Educational, Charity and Human Rights Society “Memorial”), the persons who attended the trial started to chant: “Shame!” Advocates called a request of the Prosecutor’s Office to liquidate the organization unreasonable.

Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili, a former Georgian president, has resisted his convoy guards, who tried to transfer him from the military hospital to a prison. During the incident, he lost consciousness.

In the Khodjavend District, Mazakhir Abdullaev, a resident of Azerbaijan, was detained for an attempt to export two tons of scrap metal collected in the non-demined territories of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A court in Armenia has arrested for two months Major Narek Eremyan, who had returned from captivity in Azerbaijan. He is accused of violating the rules of military service, his advocate has informed.

About 200 people are taking part in a mass hunger strike demanding the release of Mikhail Saakashvili; the action continues for seven days already. Since the start thereof, ten hunger-strikers have been hospitalized; two were taken to hospital on December 27.

Gegam Rostomyan, the father of a disabled child, was detained on suspicion of possessing drugs, but then law enforcers accused him of involvement in an extremist organization because of a transfer of 500 roubles. The man gave confessions under torture, his relatives assert.

Two citizens of Georgia were arrested for two months on the charge of illegal border crossing and tobacco smuggling, the KGB of South Ossetia announced.

Today, a verdict against Vadim Krasikov, a citizen of Russia, found guilty of murdering Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, came into force. A court in Berlin stressed that an order for the murder had come “from the state bodies of Russia.” According to the Zelimkhan Khangoshvili’s family and members of the Chechen Diaspora abroad, critics of the authorities from among the Chechen migrants still face danger.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov accused film director Alexander Sokurov of trying to “destroy Russia from the inside.” The film director did not comment on the accusations against him. Alexander Sokurov considers the question of speaking at a meeting with the Russian President settled.

During the week of December 20-26, 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.

Kairbek Bakiev and Ilkhan Kanmurzaev, natives of the Stavropol Territory, have been detained on suspicion of taking part in the attack of Basaev's and Khattab's grouping on Dagestan in 1999, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported.

The natives of Chechnya living in Europe, except for a few persons, may return to their homeland, like Rubati Mitsaeva, a former supporter of Akhmed Zakaev, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated.

Opposition protest action in Sukhumi; kidnapping of relatives of Ramzan Kadyrov’s critics in Chechnya; mass hunger strike of Mikhail Saakashvili’s supporters in Tbilisi; criminal case against the Mayor of Krasnodar, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 20-26, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The information about the mass kidnappings of relatives in Chechnya is being spread by the bloggers who are trying to slander the authorities, and who support terrorism, Ramzan Kadyrov has stated.

The situation with torture of detainees in Kuban (the Krasnodar Territory is named in this way by the name of the main river) stands out among other Russian regions; this practice has become systemic there, human rights defenders have stated in their comments on the pre-mortal statement of Evgeny Ipatov, a Sochi resident, about his torture at a law enforcement structure.

A resident of Chechnya has filmed a video with a crooked New Year Tree and posted it on the TikTok; later, he had to apologize for his joke treating it as an unworthy deed.