News

On August 18, Fuad Akhmedli, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was released from the colony after his four-year prison term. He claims to have been convicted on trumped-up and politically motivated charges. Akhmedli said he would continue his political struggle.

After examining the alleged militants killed near Galashki, law enforcers found a service pistol that could have belonged to Uvais Aliev, a Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) serviceman shot dead three weeks ago, sources have informed.

The Chief Investigating Department for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) recommended to review the refusal to institute a case on the death of Madina Umaeva, a resident of Gudermes, but did not question the unbiased approach of Chechen investigators.

Today, while searching for militants in the Sunzha District of Ingushetia, law enforcers have killed two persons who offered armed resistance to them, sources report.

After explosions at the "Sotk", the largest gold mine in Armenia, dust clouds pollute the water in the surrounding villages, local residents complain. Today, the locals have blocked the Yerevan-Vardenis road. The protestors demand to close the mine.

On August 17, in Chechnya, the local traffic police (known as GIBDD) announced that wedding party processions should consist of a maximum of four cars in the republic and that violators of the new requirement would face administrative fines. Instagram users and local residents have questioned the relevancy of the new requirement.

In Azerbaijan, according to the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), torture is used against prisoners. The NCDF called on the US and the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions against the Azerbaijan's authorities for inhuman treatment of the arrestees.

The young people, declared offenders and returned from Moscow to Chechnya, took part in a friendly football match organized by the Chechen Ministry of Sports. The footballers received gifts and cash bonuses, officials have informed.

The shelling of law enforcers in the village of Galashki, Sunzha District, was preceded by five similar incidents in Ingushetia since the start of the year.

In Tskhinvali, a service car of Igor Naniev, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of South Ossetia, was shelled; no one was injured. Law enforcers are looking for the attackers.

Four students from Ingushetia have been imprisoned in Cairo for two years without sentences or well-justified accusation, members of the Vainakh Diaspora in Europe have stated.

The number of Azerbaijanis waiting to be sent home in the border camp in Dagestan has exceeded 1100. The number of those crossing the Russian-Azerbaijani border every week should be doubled, said one of the camp residents.

Ismail Gasanov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), is on a hunger strike since August 16 at a Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison) in protest against his criminal prosecution and violation of his right to communicate by phone with his family.

Law enforcers found a hideout in the forest near the village of Galashki and were shelled, sources in Ingush law enforcement sources have reported.

A specific feature of police preventive conversations in Chechnya is the desire to humiliate offenders. This opinion was voiced by human rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina after law enforcers had reprimanded residents of the Kurchaloi District. Lawyer Yevgeny Chernousov note that the law enforcement bodies may make public videos of such conversations only with the offenders' consent.

The defence of Mekhti Ibragimov, who has been on a hunger strike in custody for the eighth day already, has filed a motion to transfer the detainee under house arrest. Activists treat the prosecution of Mekhti Ibragimov as revenge for the opposition activities of his father Mamed Ibragim.

Today, in Kabardino-Balkaria, the court has started the consideration of the case against Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko. In contradiction to his confession signed after the detention, the activist has pleaded not guilty.

The positions of the Azerbaijani troops in the villages on the border with Armenia and in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled 31 times over 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported.

Residents of Astrakhan held solo pickets and a gathering in support of Belarusian citizens on protest against the presidential election outcome, as well as residents of Khabarovsk who stood up for arrested Governor Sergey Furgal.

Spread of the coronavirus infection in the Caucasus; fifth attack on law enforcers in Ingushetia since early 2020; actions in support of protesters in Belarus, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of August 10-16, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".