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The statement of the European Union (EU) intelligence service about the existing links of the attempts on lives of Kadyrov's critics with the Russian president looks credible, Ruslan Kutaev has noted. In their turn, Sergey Goncharov and Alexei Malashenko believe that Vladimir Putin is not responsible for the assassination attempts on Chechen bloggers.

Two secret witnesses have stated in court that they had visited a mosque in Makhachkala and listened to the sermons of Israil Akhmednabiev (Abu Umar Sasitlinsky), among whose acquaintances there was a man named Abdulmumin, who called in his articles to raise money for the preacher. The witnesses failed confirm the involvement of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, a journalist of the "Chernovik" (Draft) portal, in financing of terrorism, the advocate has stated.

A two-year conditional imprisonment awarded to a resident of Ingushetia for killing his sister, who has appeared in an operative video about blackmailers' detention, resulted from a wrong qualification of the crime, human rights defenders assert. Facebook users have linked the verdict with indulgence in traditional values.

In his video message recorded after receiving help from the leader of Chechnya, a brother of Akhmed Zakaev notes it makes no sense when migrants criticize Ramzan Kadyrov. The calls to Akhmed Zakaev come against the background of death threats to Khasan Khalitov, another Ramzan Kadyrov’s opponent, who lives in Turkey.

Five activists were detained in connection with a protest action on December 1 in defence of Salekh Rustamov. They were arrested for 10-30 days on the charge of violating quarantine. Advocates state the arrests are unfounded.

After shelling attacks in the direction of the Karmir Shouka (the Azerbaijani name is Qırmızı Bazar, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) community, the Ombudsperson of Nagorno-Karabakh demanded to immediately remove the positions of the Azerbaijani troops from the vicinity of the villages. Residents of the village confirmed a shelling attack from the Azerbaijani side.

A case against three residents of Chechnya has been sent to court. They are accused in a case on the terror act in the village of Znamenskoye, as a result of which 15 people were killed in July 2005.

The State Frontier Service (SFS) of Azerbaijan should give an adequate assessment of the attack by a border guard officer on a member of the film crew covering the farewell ceremony for those who perished in the crash of a military helicopter, the Press Council has stated.

The fate of the three detainees at the action in support of Salekh Rustamov in Baku remains unknown, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) has informed. Rustam Ismailbeili, an activist, who was detained after the action, will stand trial today, his sister said.

When Mikhail Saakashvili was in power, Georgia officially recognized the Circassians' genocide, giving Circassian activists the opportunity to defend their rights within the international legal environment, Circassian activists have stated in their appeal to the Georgian President, Salome Zurabishvili. They have urged her to pardon Saakashvili.

A year later, the court has satisfied a complaint of the prosecutor's office and arrested Ashot Minasyan, accused of an attempt on the life of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan. The prosecutor's speculation that Minasyan could hide or interfere with the inquiry speaks in favour of the version of a political order, Nina Karapetyants believes. The atmosphere of fear reigns in the country's judicial system, Avetik Ishkhanyan has noted.

The health condition of Salekh Rustamov, an activist, who is on a hunger strike demanding his release from jail in Azerbaijan, is deteriorating. The human rights activists who visited him tried to persuade him to stop his hunger strike, but he is adamant, said his advocate.

Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian President, has stated that citizens of Russia, including Chechens, were among organizers of the delivery of migrants from the Middle East to the border of Belarus with European countries.

The Russian President and Chechen authorities are responsible for the assassination attempts on the Chechen blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, committed in Sweden, and on other critics of Ramzan Kadyrov, says the report of the Intelligence and Situation Centre of the European Union (EU).

In a video message, a resident of Chechnya accused his own son Khasan Khalitov of slandering the leaders of the republic and said that he wanted to kill the blogger who had left for Turkey. Khasan Khalitov publicly refused to apologize to Ramzan Kadyrov for criticism.

A case against a commander of a military detachment and his acquaintance, accused of transferring secret information to Azerbaijan, has been prepared for submission to court, the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia reports.

A resident of Tbilisi was detained at a checkpoint of the road-and-patrol police service (known as DPS) for illegal border crossing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of South Ossetia reports today.

The police disrupted a rally in support of activist Salekh Rustamov, who is on hunger strike in prison. The activist demands to release him. Organizers of the action were detained before its start. During the action, the police took at least 20 activists away from Fountain Square in Baku.

Mikhail Kalandiya, who was sentenced to 11 years for killing a teenager in Tbilisi, should be released, and the accused Giorgi Menabde should not be sentenced, but all the high-ranking officials who interfere with justice should be punished. This was stated by Zaza Saralidze, the father of the killed teenager.

The Court of Appeal has left Agvan Ovsepyan, an Armenia's former Public Prosecutor General, under arrest by rejecting the defence's appeal.