News

A Tbilisi court acquitted two out of eight detained protesters accused of failure to obey to the legal requests of the police. Other three protestors got warnings from the court. The decision on the rest detainees was postponed at a request from their advocates.

Residents of Ingushetia should not ignore the Defender of the Fatherland Day, but the holiday coincides with the anniversary of the deportation, and that fact makes entertainment events unacceptable. This opinion was expressed by Murad Daskiev, the acting head of the Ingush Council of Teips (family clans), MP Zakriy Mamilov, and Issa Kostoev, an adviser to the leader of Ingushetia.

Return of refugees, post-war victims, and search for dead bodies in the Karabakh conflict zone; verdict of guilty to Rostov activist Anastasia Shevchenko; resignation of Giorgi Gakhariya from the post of Prime Minister of Georgia; FSB reports about detention of terrorists in Southern Russia; public outcry around court's decision on claim lodged by a Chechen prosecutor, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of February 15-21, 2021, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Some of Nagorno-Karabakh residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have treated the initiative of local MPs to recognize Russian as the official language along with Armenian as untimely. Others, on the other hand, believe that the status of the Russian language had to be reconsidered long ago.

During the week of February 15-21, 2021, there was no information about any casualties and wounded persons in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

The video by the film director, Arshak Zakaryan, that before the capture of Shushi, Armenian militaries failed to react to intelligence data on the advancement of Azerbaijani Special Forces near the city looks reliable, military experts have admitted.

Tbilisi policemen have detained the activists who tried to set up a tent at a protest action timed to the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the first Georgian Constitution. The activists treated law enforcers' actions as a violation of their right to the freedom of assembly.

Ara Sagatelyan, a former head of staff of the Armenian Parliament, has been arrested within the case of fakes during the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict. The decision to detain his assistant, Mger Avakyan, was declared unlawful; and he was released.

The managers of Russian universities and colleges have discouraged pupils from participating in actions for Navalny, by misinterpreting the law or rejecting the legality as such, the publication of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper asserts.

On February 20, thousands gathered in Yerevan for a rally dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of the Karabakh movement. At the rally, opposition leaders voiced out their demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan. Activists, while chanting "Armenia without Nikol", blocked several streets in the country's capital.

A woman and a man were beaten up, and their car was shelled in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia. The victims are a fortune-teller who came from abroad and her husband, a source said, suggesting that members of the so-called social movement to combat witchcraft may be involved in the incident.

After his beating up in Makhachkala, Ruslan Ablyakimov, an activist, filed an application to the police. The attack is connected with the announcement of the opening of Navalny's office in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, Mr Ablyakimov said.

The Ministry of Culture of Abkhazia has summed up the results of the first stage of the contest for projects of the monument to Vladislav Ardzinba, the first President of Abkhazia.

Eleven journalistic and public organizations have demanded from Armenian authorities to abandon the initiative of introducing criminal liability for insulting and slandering civil servants. Such amendments to the Criminal Code will lead to political persecutions of authorities' critics and censorship, human rights defenders believe.

In Grozny, law enforcers have detained Bilkis Gaisumova, a local resident, for engaging in occultism, the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) has informed in its report posted at night on February 20 in its Instagram page.

Ruslan Ablyakimov, an activist, who has recently became the coordinator of Navalny's office in Makhachkala, was beaten up by unknown assailants. Prior to the attack, Ablyakimov reported that he was shadowed.

The witnesses of the detention of Martin Kochesoko, a Circassian activist, were people dependent on law enforcers; and the secret witnesses failed to clarify the case circumstances at the trial, the advocate has stated during the debate in the court.

The construction of the palace described in the resonant investigation by Alexei Navalny deprived residents of the village of Praskoveevka of their agricultural and hunting lands, a beach and recreation places, but villagers are afraid to openly criticize Vladimir Putin.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* has appealed to the Prosecutor's Office of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) with a request to check information on the violation of the rights of relatives of the Muslims who died from COVID-19. KBR residents tell about burying the dead in closed coffins, without observing religious rites and traditions, the HRC's message says.

Today, about 10 women have come to the US Embassy. They demanded to release political prisoners. In their hands, the activists were holding posters with the slogan "Freedom for political prisoners!" written in Azerbaijani and English, as well as posters with photos of sentenced activists and journalists, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.