News

The Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has mitigated the verdicts to three convicted under the "Ganja case" by reducing their prison terms. Human rights defenders are pointing to political motives for persecuting the convicts.

On the 22nd day of his hunger strike held in Rustavi Prison, Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili, a former Georgian President, received a blood transfusion due to the deterioration of his blood tests, his personal doctor, Nikoloz Kipshidze, has informed, adding that his patient needs treatment in a civilian hospital.

A court in Baku has arrested for four months a person accused of raping a minor activist. The girl's mother believes that the arrest was achieved thanks to a public campaign.

Ramzan Kadyrov should react to the scandal with the receipt of maroon berets by Chechen law enforcers and punish the violators, so as not to cause negative attitudes towards himself in the army, law enforcers believe.

The scam when passing tests for maroon berets has confirmed the unprofessionalism of Chechen special fighters, the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, has stated recalling the death of a person during the shelling of the House of Press in Grozny.

After a special operation conducted by Turkish law enforcers, who detained six foreigners accused of espionage and plotting attempts on lives of Chechen oppositionists, authorities decided to provide state security to activists of the Chechen Diaspora living in Turkey have. Chechens in Turkey have strengthened their own security measures, Diaspora members have noted.

You can't force people to respect one's faith; and forcing a girl in Krasnodar to make a public apology, when she repented to the camera of offending believers' feelings, can provoke an action in her support, Instagram users have noted. However, most users have found that public apologies help to defend Islam.

Iran tried to restrict air traffic between Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR), but those measures are ineffective, expert Azad Isazade notes. Iranian cargo carriers will not have any conflicts with Azerbaijani border guards on the road from Goris to Kapan, because they will wait for the opening of an alternative road, Armenian experts for Iranian studies suggest.

After the exams in the Stavropol Territory, two fighters of the Chechen Department of the National Guard of Russia got not only the right to wear maroon berets, but also Mercedes Benz cars from the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation. The Chechen Press Minister explained that the fighters received the expensive gifts as an award for passing the exams impeccably.

Giorgi Datiashvili, the former deputy chief of the Georgian Constitutional Security Department, is suspected of making and transporting firearms, ammunition, and explosive devices. An advocate and family members associate the detention of Giorgi Datiashvili with his participation in a rally in support of Mikhail Saakashvili.

If necessary, Mikhail Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike for the 22nd day, will be placed in a prison hospital, and not in a private clinic, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announces its decision.

Only cultural workers have the right to sing and act as performers, while the creativity of amateur singers will be suppressed, Dina Shagidaeva, the director of the Grozny State Philharmonic Society, has stated. In their turn, residents of Chechnya have objected by stating that singing songs is a way of self-expression.

A suspect of preparing a terror act in the Stavropol Territory has been detained; explosives and striking elements for a bomb were found in his house.

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) allows victims to seek bringing the law enforcers involved in the murder of Muslim Kuriev to justice, Magomed Gagiev, an advocate, believes. Kuriev, a resident of the village of Plievo, was killed in the counterterrorist operation (CTO).

The harassment of bloggers in the Chechen Instagram public at the initiative of Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, is caused by authorities' desire for total control over all spheres of life, analysts believe. The administrators of the public have posted two new videos with "education" of girls and promised that the demand from men "will be still greater."

Maroon berets, unlike military ranks, used to be awarded transparently and fairly. In the situation with the applicants from Chechnya, military servicemen were outraged by the violation of the traditions, since many owners of maroon berets had deserved them with great difficulty, experts have noted.

The court has extended the custody of seven defendants, opponents of the gay parade in Tbilisi, accused of attacking journalists.

Sardar Babaev, a Shiite theologian and a member of the public association "Spiritual Workers of Azerbaijan", has been arrested for four months and charged with treason. The relatives of the other four detained members and supporters of the association are unaware of their fate.

In connection with the public apology voiced by a young woman in Krasnodar, experts have noted that the Islamic norms do not provide for any forceful influence on non-Muslims if they offend religious feelings.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) dismissed the complaints filed by residents of South Ossetia about the violation of human rights by Georgian militaries during the conflict in 2008. The Strasbourg Court explained its decision by the fact that the Georgian authorities had lost control over the region.