News

The resonance around the story of Said-Mukhammad Djumaev was caused by the fact that he has become the first Chechen in many years to take the side of the opposition, Musa Lomaev, a blogger, and Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender, believe. Djumaev can avoid imprisonment for a fight with law enforcers, if he pleads guilty, lawyers have suggested.

At a protest action in Yerevan, several dozen people demanded Nikol Pashinyan's resignation and release of Vaan Badasyan, who was arrested for calling to execute the Armenian Premier.

The two young men taken out by Chechen law enforcers from Nizhny Novgorod, have been interrogated under two criminal cases as witnesses. A lawyer from the Russian LGBT Network has filed complaints with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigating Committee about the illegal detention of young people.

If a resident of Chechnya is caught drunk by law enforcers, he will be arrested and incur "additional punishment", Abuzaid Vismuradov, Chechen Vice-Premier, has threatened. However, Instagram users have pointed out that offenders can only be punished according to the law, treating the official's threats as "lawlessness."

Animators, employees of entertainment and fitness centres, and ski resorts have demanded to cancel restrictions related to coronavirus. They staged a street concert on the steps of the Georgian Parliament.

A court in the Fizuli District of Azerbaijan has sentenced six residents to 30 days of arrest for entering a territory not cleared of mines, the country's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) said yesterday. The number of cases when civilians become victims of mine explosions is growing despite the authorities' ban on visiting the conflict zone, Khalid Agaliev, an analyst, has noted.

In Dagestan, law enforcers found a hideout with weapons, improvised explosion devices (IEDs) and ammunition, and stopped the activities of a conspiratorial terrorist unit, by detaining two people, the republic's branch of the Russian FSB (Federal Security Bureau) has reported.

In some cases, in order to bring their problems to the authorities, family members of perished soldiers have to resort to protest actions, Azerbaijani human rights defenders have noted.

After the actions in support of Navalny, law enforcers detained Volgograd activists, Vladimir Kruglyakov, Galina Zabolotneva and Vladislav Murashkin. The activists were outraged by the unjustified policemen's actions and announced their intention to file a complaint about the violation of their rights.

Experts are checking the composition of the "Sputnik V" coronavirus vaccine for the permissibility of its use from the viewpoint of the Sharia Law, said Aidar Gazizov, the head of the "Halal" Certification Centre.

Due to the closed borders because of the coronavirus pandemic, some participants of the resettlement programme for Circassian compatriots to their homeland could not enter Russia, said Asker Shkhalakhov, the head of the committee on ethnic affairs, relations with compatriots and mass media of Adygea.

The Binagadi District Court of Baku has dismissed the complaint of Mustafa Gadjibeili, an opposition journalist and activist. He intends to appeal against the court decision.

The advocate of the natives of Chechnya, detained in Nizhny Novgorod, is in Gudermes, but has no information about his clients and could not meet them. Human rights defenders had discussed with the young men strict restriction of their contacts for security reasons, but one of them broke the rules, said David Isteev, an employee of the Russian LGBT Network.

The North-Ossetian Investigating Committee has opened a criminal case on the attack on the journalist, Ruslan Totrov, under the article on obstruction to journalistic activities with the use of violence.

In Novorossiysk, 21 people were detained after the protest action on January 31. Of them, five were arrested, and the rest were fined. In Anapa, at least two activists were arrested. This was reported by Marina Dubrovina, a lawyer from the "Agora" human rights group. The lawyer has also announced her intention to challenge the court decisions.

Today, the Supreme Court of South Ossetia has sentenced Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze to 12.5 years of imprisonment for illegally crossing the border with South Ossetia and opening fire at Russian soldiers. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the State Security Service blamed Russia for the decision pronounced by the South-Ossetian Supreme Court and demanded to release the prisoner.

On February 4, in Baku, activists came to the Government House to protest against domestic violence, but the police stopped their action. One of the female protesters explained that the street protest was triggered by a murder of a 32-year-old woman.

The law enforcement bodies accused Eduard Kunaev, a teacher from the village of Dinskaya, of disobeying the police at a protest action that took place in Krasnodar on January 31, advocate Mikhail Benyash reported.

Khadizhat Malaeva, a resident of Grozny, tried to turn to a sorceress for a promotion at work; but after a conversation with Adam Elzhurkaev, a theologian, she admitted that she had violated Islamic traditions, the republic's TV channel has reported.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has received complaints about rights violation from 228 captured residents of Armenia, and from 13 captured citizens of Azerbaijan, the ECtHR reported on February 4 and demanded from the authorities of both countries to provide information about all these prisoners of war (POWs).